AIDS Crisis Continues in Southern Africa

Posted: 2 December 2005

Progress in Zimbabwe, but infections increase across region.

The AIDS crisis in southern Africa continues to worsen, with the rate of infection increasing across the region, according to the AIDS Epidemic Update released by the UN AIDS Program and the World Health Organization. Since women continue to be disproportionately affected, the report calls for special efforts to address social inequalities as an essential component to combating the disease.

There is one bright spot: Zimbabwe has seen a drop in the infection rate of pregnant women from 26 percent in 2002 to 21 percent in 2004. A drop in the rate of infection among the youngest pregnant women is especially encouraging: “A signiﬁcant decline in HIV prevalence among pregnant young women (15–24 years)—which fell from 29 percent to 20 percent in 2000-2004—suggests that the rate of new HIV infections (incidence) could be slowing, too.”

The report’s authors credit increased condom usage (over 80 percent reported by both men and women), and a reduction in the reported number of sexual partners as factors contributing to the decreasing rate of infection. The report also cites a leveling off of the mortality rate as evidence that changes in behavior are reducing the number of new infections.

Despite the apparent progress in Zimbabwe, the HIV/AIDS crisis is accelerating in many other countries across southern Africa. The study cites the highest percentage of infection of pregnant women ever seen in South Africa: 29.5 percent. Women continue to be particularly hard hit: more than one in three South African women between the ages of 25 and 34 are infected.

The epidemic is “dramatically worsening” in Mozambique, with infection rates increasing in all parts of the country, the report says. The overall infection rate in Mozambique jumped from 14 percent to 16 percent between 2002 and 2004.

Women’s Rights Deserve Special Attention

The UNAIDS/WHO report devotes one section of its recommendations to the gender dimension of the crisis, and recommends specific policy changes that are in line with Oxfam America’s HIV/AIDS Law, Policy, and Women’s Rights Program: “If HIV-prevention activities are to succeed, they need to occur alongside other efforts, such as legal reform (including property rights) and the promotion of women’s rights that address and reduce violence against women and girls.”