About 1,5-million people have died of Aids in South Africa, according to Statistics SA.
According to its 2004 mid-year statistical update published in Pretoria, about 3,8-million people were HIV-positive — which related to an HIV-prevalence rate of 15% of the adult population.
Statistics SA said there had been much concern about the effect of HIV on fertility in South Africa.
”There is evidence that being HIV-positive lowers fecundity. There are also arguments that behavioural changes among persons who are HIV-positive could lead to either lower or higher fertility.”
Because fertility in South Africa had declined significantly from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the overall impact of HIV on the level of fertility was unlikely to be large in comparison with other factors influencing fertility in South Africa. – Sapa