Prevalence
HIV/AIDS remains one of the major challenges to Swaziland’s socioeconomic development. The epidemic has spread relentlessly in all the parts of the country since the first reported case in 1986.
Periodic surveillance of antenatal clinics in the country has shown a consistent rise in HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending the clinics. The most recent surveillance in antenatal women reported an overall prevalence of 42.6% in 2004. Prevalence of 28% was found among young women aged 15–19. In women ages 25–29, prevalence was 56%.
The Human Development Index of the UN Development Programme reports that as a consequence of HIV/AIDS, life expectancy in Swaziland has fallen from 61 years in 2000, to 32 years in 2009.
From another perspective, the last available World Health Organization data (2002) shows that 64% of all deaths in the country were caused by HIV/AIDS. In 2009, an estimated 7,000 people died from AIDS-related causes. On a total population of approximately 1,185,000 this implies that HIV/AIDS kills an estimated 0.6% of the Swazi population every year. Chronic illnesses that are the most prolific causes of death in the developed world only account for a minute fraction of deaths in Swaziland; for example, heart disease, strokes, and cancer cause a total of less than 5% of deaths in Swaziland, compared to 55% of all deaths yearly in the US.
The United Nations Development Program has written that if the spread of the epidemic in the country continues unabated, the "longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened".
Read more about this topic: HIV/AIDS In Swaziland
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