81 000 new HIV cases in E Cape
2007-02-02 08:06
East London - A new study has revealed that more than 80 000 people were infected with HIV in the Eastern Cape last year and almost 40 000 died as a result of the disease.
Dispatch Online said the results of the study by the Eastern Cape Aids Council were released this week.
The council's 73-page report said that of the estimated 6.67 million people living in the Eastern Cape, about 10% (667 000) were living with HIV last year.
A total of 81 000 people were newly infected and 38 507 people died from Aids-related diseases.
More than 20 000 children had been orphaned by Aids, while 5 700 babies were infected with HIV before birth. Another 3 800 babies were infected through their mother's milk.
The adult life expectancy pattern in the province, which was more than 51 years for men and women alike in 1990, dropped to 49.1 years, last year.
Health services 'bleak'
The report said more young women than men had been infected with HIV and that, nationally, of the people infected between 15 and 24, about 77% were women.
The report sketched a bleak picture of the Eastern Cape's health services and blamed a worsening situation on a "severe shortage of financial and human resources in the provincial health sector".
Poor working conditions and low staff morale compounded the problem.
Treatment Action Campaign spokesperson Phillip Mokoena confirmed the figures, but said specific details on district figures still were needed.
- SAPA