Under-reporting of HIV and AIDS as an underlying cause of death in South Africa.

Under-reporting of HIV-related and AIDS-related deaths is a major problem in South Africa, with only 27.9% of documented HIV-related deaths in medical records reported as such in the official cause of death data. The legacy of AIDS denialism in South Africa, confidentiality concerns, and anticipated stigma appear to have created a culture of not recording HIV as an underlying cause on the official medical certificate of death. Inaccurate statistics could affect resource allocation for the epidemic.