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MRC HIV/AIDS Research findings
in Annual Report
MRC HIV/AIDS research findings outlined in latest Annual Report
By the time a South African woman is 22 years old, there is a 24% chance that she has the HIV infection or AIDS. Her life is over barely after she has begun to enjoy adulthood.
This is the scenario painted in the Medical Research Council of South Africa's Annual Report for the year 2000/1. It goes on to say that between five and seven million South Africans will die from AIDS in the next 10 years. In fact, HIV/AIDS has become the country's biggest killer.
The country's high incidence rates for HIV/AIDS constitutes a "priority of priorities" says the Report. There are only two options for this: To build more hospitals (which is unlikely to happen given the economic climate) or to find alternative ways to care for people living with HIV/AIDS.
The MRC estimates that over half the deaths in those from 15 to 49 years old are due to the infection.
Death registration increased from around 50% in 1990 to over 90% of adult deaths being registered in 1999, says the Report. This has made it easier to keep a tab on mortality rates and especially those for HIV/AIDS.
Most striking are the death rates for women. The mortality rates of women between 25 and 29 years are three times what they were a decade ago. The increases in mortality for men are spread over an older and wider range, which is in keeping with the different age patterns of HIV infection in men and women, a consequence of older men tending to have sex with younger women.
It almost goes without saying that a lot of time and resources went into HIV/AIDS research during the year. Projects set up included an HIV Vaccine Trial Research Unit and the HIV Prevention Trial Unit which were funded for a total of R100 million with several collaborative partners.
A WHO/UNAIDS African AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) was set up, overseen by African scientists, who hope to find a solution to the problem in which the continent is baring the brunt compared to the rest of the world. The AAVP steering committee is chaired by the MRC.
With local infection rates showing no signs of abating, the MRC has identifed HIV/AIDS as one of its "lead programmes" in which most efforts will be concentrated.
An MRC study confirmed that mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS can indeed be prevented by the use of drugs like AZT and Nevirapine
For more Information, please visit the MRC (South Africa) web-site: www.mrc.ac.za
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