This is according to Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who released the country’€™s 20th antenatal HIV survey in Johannesburg yesterday.

The biggest increase in HIV was among women aged 35 to 39, where there was a jump of 6% to 35.5% but researchers say this does not indicate that more women of this age were getting infected but rather that women infected earlier are surviving for longer because they are on antiretroviral medication.

KwaZulu-Natal fared worst in the country again, with close on four out of 10 pregnant women (39.5%) infected with HIV, while nine of the 10 districts with the worst HIV rates were in KwaZulu-Natal.

The worst affected district in the country is uThukela where 46.4% of pregnant women had HIV, while the safest place is Namaqua in the Northern Cape, which had no HIV positive pregnant women.

Gauteng showed no increase over last year with almost a three out of 10 women testing HIV positive, although there was an alarming 8% increase in HIV in Metsweding. Women in Ekurhuleni have the highest HIV rate (34%) followed by Metsweding with a prevalence of 33.3%.

The Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape all recorded slight increases in HIV infection.

However, the Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West recorded slight decreases in HIV.

Over 32 000 pregnant women were tested at all 52 districts countrywide, and 30% of districts recorded HIV prevalence levels of over 30%.

While he acknowledged the enormity of the task, Motsoaledi said it was ‘€œencouraging to note the renewed commitment of our government and political will to face the epidemic’€ and that ‘€œan additional R5.4 billion has been committed to support scale up of the ART treatment programme in the 2010-11 financial year’€.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance’€™s Mike Waters welcomed the ‘€œmuch-delayed release of the annual HIV Antenatal Clinic Survey’€.

‘€œIt suggests that the HIV epidemic in South Africa is stabilizing, with the number of pregnant women infected with HIV now standing at an estimated 29.2%, compared to 30.2% in 2005,’€ said Waters.

He noted that the DA had submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application for this report, which was due to expire on Sunday.

‘€œThis report has been released later and later every year, making the information outdated by the time it is released. As a result we have on three previous occasions submitted PAIA applications for its release,’€ said Waters.

The Health Department only gave notice on Wednesday night that it was due to release the report yesterday.