Infant and maternal mortality figures are rising in South Africa as the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues, according to the Department of Health report "Every Death Counts" released Tuesday. HIV/AIDS is responsible for 35 percent of all infant and child deaths in South Africa, a finding that a source working on the report said the health minister tried but failed to excise.

South Africa "is one of only 12 countries globally that has seen a reversal in infant mortality rates since the goals were set in 1990, and that is obviously due to HIV," said Joy Lawn, co-author of the report and a senior policy and research advisor for Save the Children.

Several countries with similar gross national incomes and mortality rates to South Africa's are on track to reduce child deaths by two-thirds and maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015, yet no progress has been made by South Africa, the report said.

Every year in South Africa, 20,000 babies are stillborn, 22,000 die within four weeks of birth, and at least 75,000 children die before age five. At least 1,600 women die due to the complications of childbirth.

About 40,000 deaths could be averted annually if the country stepped up implementation of existing policies and programs to improve infant and maternal health, Lawn said. Expectant mothers, for instance, have to fight barriers to specialized obstetric care, including having a caesarian section. The lack of essential equipment at government health care centers should also be addressed, she said.

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang demanded that researchers remove the section tying infant and child deaths to HIV/AIDS, according to leaked documents confirmed by someone close to the project. The report's authors seem to have reached a compromise by including the information as an addendum.

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