ZAMBIA RECORDS REDUCTION IN HIV/AIDS PREVALENCE

Zambia has continued to record a steady decline in the spread of the HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) due to an increase in access to quality interventions.

And the country has also continued to record significantly attained progress at all levels of HIV/AIDS interventions particularly in diagnosis, treatment and care.

According to the Ministry of Health’s National Health Strategic Plan (NHSP) of 2011 to 2016, the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the adult population has declined from 16. %1 in 2002 to14.3% as of 2007.

The National Health Strategic Plan which was released by Health Minister Joseph Kasonde in Lusaka recently further indicates that an estimated 16.1 % females and 12.3 % males are infected with HIV in both urban and rural area.

The urban areas have however continued to have higher HIV prevalence of about 20% as compared to the rural areas which are recording a prevalence of about 10%.

Moreover,(NHSP also indicates that new HIV infections are projected to increase from an estimated 67,602 adults in 2006 to 72,019 in the year 2015 translating into approximately 185 new HIV infections every day.

Out of these daily HIV infections, an estimated 10% of HIV transmission is from parent to child mostly occurring during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.

In the five year plan, Government has since put up strong measures to scale up interventions particularly in Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT, Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condom Use (ABC) Strategies, Male Circumcision (MC), Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTC) Among Others.

Currently over 900,000 Zambians are living with HIV and over 250,000 are receiving Anti Retro Therapy (ART).