More Than Five Million AIDS-Related Deaths Expected in South Africa by 2011, Report Says
More than five million people in South Africa could die of HIV/AIDS-related causes by 2011 and up to 10 million people in the country could die of the disease by 2021, according to a report released on Monday, SAPA/Independent Online reports. Carel van Aardt of the Bureau of Market Research at the University of South Africa conducted the report, titled "A Projection of the South African Population, 2001 to 2021," which shows that the annual number of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in South Africa between 2007 and 2011 is estimated to exceed 500,000 each year. According to the report, HIV/AIDS will especially impact population growth among the black and mixed-race populations over the next seven years. Among the black population, the annual number of deaths is expected to grow by more than 50% from 2001 to 2008, while the number of deaths among the mixed-race population is expected to increase by more than 80% from 2001 to 2014, according to the report. In addition, "a complex combination" of HIV/AIDS and population aging is expected to affect the number of deaths among South Africa's white population, with an almost 50% increase in the annual number of deaths among whites from 2001 to 2009, according to the report. The report estimates that the Asian/Indian population will not be highly affected by HIV/AIDS, SAPA/Independent Online reports. South Africa's total population is expected to increase to almost 51 million people by 2021, up from 45.4 million in 2001 (SAPA/Independent Online, 9/20).
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