In four decades of independence, Zambia has found peace but not prosperity. Today it is one of the poorest and least developed nations on earth. Around two-thirds of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Zambia's problems have since the mid 1980s been compounded by one of the world's most devastating HIV and AIDS epidemics.
The statistics alone are shocking:
- one in every six adults is living with HIV
- 98,000 people died of AIDS in 2005
- life expectancy at birth has fallen below 40 years
- 710,000 children are AIDS orphans.
HIV has spread throughout Zambia and to all parts of society. However, some groups are especially vulnerable - most notably young women and girls. AIDS has worst hit those in their most productive years, and, as families have disintegrated, thousands have been left destitute.
From my earlier visit to Africa, I came to realize that Aids is a 100% disease, meaning that it touches the lives of all in Africa.
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