Johannesburg

Nearly 40 percent of South African civil servants believe HIV/AIDS is curable, a recent study by the local Bureau of Market Research at the University of South Africa and the German aid agency, GTZ, has found.

In a report to parliament on Monday, the researchers noted that 49 percent of public officials in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, and 46 percent of those in the central Gauteng province - the highest levels in the country - believed AIDS could be cured, thus increasing their risk of contracting HIV.

"That even a minuscule proportion of the public service believes there is a cure for AIDS should be viewed gravely," the report warned.

The findings of the study were made public less than two weeks after government officials were criticised during the UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS for not doing enough.