South Africa

With the highest number of infections in the world, South Africa is one of the countries most severely affected by the AIDS epidemic. The country’s first HIV infection was reported in 1982. According to the most recent estimate by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, South Africa’s total number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) now stands at 5.6 million, and the epidemic is now stable. While the number of PLWHA has stabilized in recent years, South Africa continues to face a generalized hyper epidemic due to high HIV prevalence. There are numerous modes of transmission and drivers of the disease. South Africa’s HIV epidemic is generalized and also considered hyper endemic due to the high rate of HIV prevalence and the modes and drivers of HIV transmission. Also, the country is one of the few where maternal and child mortality has increased since the 1990s, and AIDS is the largest cause of maternal mortality. It accounts for an estimated 42.5 percent of maternal deaths, according to the World Health Organization, and for 35 percent of deaths in children under 5. While South Africa is home to only 0.7 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for 28 percent of the world’s HIV and tuberculosis co-infections and 33 percent of the co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa.

In December 2010, the Government of South Africa signed a Partnership Framework with the U.S. Government (USG). The Partnership Framework is designed as a five-year joint strategic framework for cooperation among the USG, the partner government, and other partners to combat HIV/AIDS through service delivery, policy reform, and coordinated financial commitments. Partnership Frameworks also support and strengthen national HIV/AIDS strategies; focus on building strategic partnerships with the host country to secure long-term sustainability for HIV/AIDS programs; and are transparent and accountable in execution, with the active participation of other key partners from civil society, the private sector, bilateral and multilateral partners, and other international organizations.

Related Links

• USAID Mission in South Africa
• Directory of Associations of People Living with HIV/AIDS [PDF, 896KB]
• East Africa Regional Program
• Southern Africa Regional Program
• South Africa Success Stories