Women aged 15-24 have highest weekly HIV & TB infections in SA

JOHANNESBURG - Women aged between 15-24 have been identified as the group with the highest weekly numbers of new HIV and TB infections compared to all populations in South Africa.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile revealed the shocking statistics at the 12th SA Aids Conference hosted at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni on Monday.

Industry leaders, researchers, academics and top government officials gathered for the conference’s opening.

Mashatile said the Department of Health is responding to the crisis with two campaigns.

The first is called “Close the Gap” - start and stay on HIV treatment - and secondly “End TB Campaign”.

The TB campaign is targeting testing five million people during the 2025/2026 financial year.

Mashatile said SA carries the highest HIV and TB numbers with prevalence among people aged 15 and 49.

“To quote the Health Minister’s famous line, ‘if HIV and TB were a snake, its head would be in South Africa’. This means, the global community is counting on us to achieve the epidemic control for everyone to win, and ‘we dare not fail’ as Dr Xulu, the SANCO [South African National Civic Organisation] CEO would say.”