Lessons From the Country With World’s Largest HIV Epidemic
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2023-11-28 15:19
South Africa, with the world’s biggest number of HIV cases, has in the past five years reduced the

South Africa, with the world’s biggest number of HIV cases, has in the past five years reduced the percentage of its population infected with the virus that causes the immune disease AIDS.

With an estimated 7.8 million people, or 12.7% of the population, living with the disease, the results of the 2022 South Africa HIV survey released Monday by the Human Sciences Research Council shows “South Africa is on the right track,” said Khangelani Zuma, the study’s lead investigator.

Still, the impact of the nation’s HIV epidemic disproportionately affects Black South Africans, women and young people.

The results are helping South Africa design nuanced and regionally specific programs and can provide “learnings” for other countries battling the scourge, he said.

Here are some of the main findings:

More than 27,000 households were surveyed between January 2022 and April 2023 across all nine of South Africa’s provinces. Funding for the study came from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was initiated in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush.

(Updates with number of households surveyed in last paragraph)

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