AIDS-Related Deaths Falling in SA

A new report from Statistics South Africa has found that the rate of increase in deaths among young adults appears to have slowed since the government began providing AIDS drugs.

The report shows that the number of deaths in people aged between 30 and 34 rose 17 percent between 2002 and 2003, rising from 47 208 to 55 301. Deaths in this age group climbed a further 5,9 percent in 2004, rose another 1,7 percent in 2005 and then fell very slightly (0,3 percent) in 2006.

However, UCT demographer, Rob Dorrington, is of the view that very little is offered by way of interpretation of the results. “The pattern and trend are uniquely associated with deaths due to AIDS and yet Stats SA seems to be avoiding, almost studiously, even the suggestion that this is an explanation,” he says.

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