Female AIDS deaths quadruple in South Africa

Female deaths due to HIV/AIDS had quadrupled in the period from 1997 to 2004, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Friday.

Speaking at the Gauteng AIDS summit in Boksburg, west of Johannesburg, Hester Phillips of Stats SA said the very sharp increase in death rate due to HIV and related diseases is of great concern.

"There is also a huge increase in mortality in women in prime ages of reproduction," she said.

Despite the finding released recently by Stats SA, Phillips said there was still no precise estimate of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in South Africa.

"We cannot estimate the extent of the disease if we are not diligent in describing the cause of death," she said.

Medical practitioners should spend more time on filling out death certificates as often what is on the certificate is not the exact cause of death, she said.

South Africa buries an estimated 900 AIDS patients every day -- many of them killed by tuberculosis. South Africa's population growth rate has slowed down in the past five years mainly due to declining fertility levels and rising AIDS deaths.The country of 47.4 million included about 24.1 million women, 15.3 million children under 15 and 3.7 million people older than 60.

Source: Xinhua