The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) will next week release the sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey results.
The results, also known as the sixth South Africa Behavioural, Sero-status and Media Impact Survey (SABSSM VI), will officially be released by the HSRC CEO Professor Sarah Mosoetsa, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande and Department of Health Deputy Minister, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo.
First commissioned by former President Nelson Mandela in 2001, the study is a population-based, cross-sectional survey of households throughout South Africa that gathers information on HIV incidence, prevalence, and other related indicators in South Africa.
The HSRC has implemented a series of population-based surveys on HIV over the past 20 years, starting with the 2002 Nelson Mandela/HSRC-funded survey on HIV and AIDS, followed by the 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2017 surveys.
The 2022 survey is the sixth one in the series and the study, or SABSSM VI, was conducted in all nine provinces of South Africa among participants aged zero and above from over 27 000 households.
It zoomed into key HIV indicators, social and behavioural factors, and access to medical interventions in South Africa.
The study was led by the HSRC in collaboration with partners and was conducted with funding from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
It also received technical collaboration with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), University of Cape Town (UCT), South African National Aids Council (SANAC), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).
The HSRC was established in 1968 as South Africa’s statutory research agency and has grown to become the largest dedicated research institute in the social sciences and humanities on the African continent, performing cutting-edge public research in areas that are crucial to development.
“Research activities and structures are closely aligned with South Africa’s national development priorities.”
The launch will be held at the NICD PRF Training Centre, in Sandringham, Pretoria, on Monday, 27 November 2023.
