Church workers say Zimbabweans still at great risk of contracting HIV

Published: 2007-11-14

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Church workers expressed skepticism about the significant drop in the HIV rate in Zimbabwe and said people are still at great risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. The drop could be a result of AIDS awareness campaigns that "have been widespread and comprehensive," said Alouis Chaumba, head of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe. But extreme poverty in the southern African country and the "desperation of people to make ends meet" could cause the rate to rise again, he said in a Nov. 10 telephone interview with Catholic News Service from the capital, Harare. The HIV rate in Zimbabwe over the past four years has dropped from 18.1 percent to 15.6 percent, with the decrease mainly seen among people between the ages of 15 and 49, the Zimbabwean government announced in early November.

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