Children as Educators: HIV prevention in Zambia

摘要

The first case of AIDS was reported in Zambia in 1985. Since then the epidemic has spiralled beyond control. Accurate information on actual AIDS cases is not available, due to very serious constraints on reporting mechanisms or lack of requirement to report deaths occurring in rural areas, where a significant number of deaths occur because most AIDS patients resort to traditional treatments in villages after giving up hope for cure through western medical care. Additionally, infection rates in villages are now as high as urban rates except for very few areas in the remotest parts of the country. Information on specific sentinel surveillance studies is however available and provides useful indicators to the extent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. (Tables 1 and 2).