Abstract

PIP: In the South African province of KwaZulu Natal, 1 in 3 adults are believed to be infected with HIV; 1500 people are infected daily. According to an unpublished governmental HIV antenatal study, the incidence of HIV in the province has increased by 20% in the past year. According to a Natal University virologist who attended a recent HIV/AIDS Update Symposium held by the university and the provincial department of health, the province has the highest HIV incidence in South Africa, and prevalence there grew from 26.9% to 32.4% during 1997-1998. 16% of South Africans were HIV-positive in 1997. The latest HIV figures for the province indicate the failure of the government's HIV/AIDS prevention campaign, which promotes the use of condoms and the practice of safe sex. Other major problems are a lack of effective education, young people's ignorance, and the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS; in a December 1998 incident, a young woman who had admitted having the disease on a radio talk show was subsequently murdered. Women between 15 and 25 years of age are most vulnerable to infection; although women are aware of condoms, their male partners refuse to wear them. It is warned that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS would increase until women were able to control their own lives.