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HIV / AIDS is of concern throughout South
AFrica, Africa and the rest of the world and impedes national and
individual development and burdens economies with huge treatment and
control costs (Mara, 2002).
This indicator reports on HIV / AIDS
prevalence in the province and the disease has repurcussions on life
expectancy and mortality rates
and often affects the economically active groups
in a population and the impact of AIDS deaths in a
family can increase socio-economic vulnerability (DSD, 2000). HIV positive
people are particularly prone to opportunistic invasion of Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV
will even reactivate treated TB (DSD,
2000).
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| Assessment of
Data |
The highest prevelance of HIV occurs among
African females, while the lowest prevalence is amongst white
females (Stats SA, 2002). According to the 2000 ante-natal survey,
the HIV prevalance in Mpumalanga is the second highest in South
Africa, however, Mpumalanga was rated the fourth highest province in
2001. HIV prevalance in the province does not appear to be
increasing, having remained
fairly constant during the period 1998 to
2001, although the HIV Prevalance in Mpumalanga is higher
than the national average HIV prevalance (DOH,
2001; DOH,
2002).
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