Johannesburg - AIDS is South Africa's leading cause of death and accounted for 40 per cent of deaths last year of those aged between 15 and 49.
A South Africa Medical Research Council report, which has not yet been released, forecasts that six million South Africans might die from AIDS by 2010.
It projects a three-fold increase in deaths among children aged one to five by 2010 unless preventive policies are put in place.
Last week, President Thabo Mbeki, who has questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, once again stated that AIDS was not the biggest killer in the country. In a letter to his minister of health, Mr Mbeki said HIV/AIDS was attributable to just 2.2 per cent of deaths in South Africa.