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Possible AIDS increase through mining

    JOHANNESBURG

    Increased mining activity in Zambia's Copperbelt province of could result in higher HIV prevalence rates for the area, an AIDS NGO has said.

    The Copperbelt AIDS Task Force, said that functional mining towns also worked as a magnet for commercial sex work.

    "It is likely to worsen the AIDS scenario of the mining towns because HIV thrives where there are heightened sexual activities," Henry Loongo, the task force's general-secretary, told the local Times of Zambia.

    Zambian Ministry of Health figures show that the Copperbelt province has the highest HIV prevalence - 20 percent - after the capital Lusaka's 22 percent rate.

    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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