AIDS activists have accused the South African President Thabo Mbeki of playing down a growing crisis in the country. Until last year, the government refused to provide life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs through the public health system.

A 2004 Health Department survey of more than 16,000 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics indicated between 6.29 million and 6.57 million South Africans were infected with the virus that causes AIDS, compared to 5.6 million in 2003.

The state statistical service, Statistics SA, put the figure this year at 4.5 million.

Officials quoted by the South African Broadcasting Corp. blamed differences in methodology for the discrepancy.

Prevalence Increased Among All Age Groups

President Thabo Mbeki's government has been criticized for its sluggish response to HIV/AIDS, with activists accusing it of seeking to play down the crisis. Until last year, the government refused to provide life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs through the public health system, citing cost and safety concerns.

The annual National HIV and Siphilis Antenatal Sero-Prevalence Survey found 29.5 percent of pregnant women tested positive for HIV in 2004, compared to 27.9 percent in 2003.

Prevalence increased among all age groups between the two years, but was highest in women aged between 25 and 29 -- nearly 40 percent of whom tested HIV-positive.