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More work urged against AIDS and youth risks

    JOHANNESBURG

    A lot more needs to be done to stop HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, despite strides made in reducing prevalence rates, government officials said on Thursday.

    Zimbabwe recently became the first Southern African nation to report a decline in HIV infection, from 24.6 percent in 2003 to 20.1 percent in 2005.

    However, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa, warned that there were still some mindsets to be shifted and behaviour to be changed, especially among the youth.

    "We still have a big problem on our hands. Our young people who are the future are still getting infected, which means that there is need to intensify educational campaigns," the local Herald newspaper quoted the minister as saying.

    It was estimated that the majority of new HIV infections were most visible among the 15 to 24-year age group, and at least 60 percent of those infected were women.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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