Current HIV research
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Sentinel surveillance surveys combined with epidemiological/demographic models have been used in monitoring trends in mortality due to HIV in South Africa as in most other countries. The potential biases in such surveys have been highlighted in recent studies. South Africa's HIV prevalence (29.5% among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in 2004) is one of the highest in the world. ⋯ The absolute number of deaths is estimated to have increased from about 400,000 in 1997 to about 565,000 in 2002. Crude HIV related plus TB-AIDS death rate is estimated to have increased from about 9.6 per 10,000 in 1997 to about 19.1 per 10,000 in 2002. The increase in the number of deaths could not be attributed to population growth.