THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN ZAMBIA - SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC PREVALENCE PATTERNS ANDINDICATIONS OF TRENDS AMONG CHILDBEARING WOMEN

Objective: To examine socio-demographic HIV prevalence patterns and tr ends among childbearing women in Zambia. Design: Repeated cross-sectio nal surveys. Methods: Personal interviews and unlinked anonymous testi ng of blood samples of women attending antenatal care in selected area s. Results: The 1994 data includes information from 27 areas and a tot al of 11 517 women. The HIV prevalence among urban residents appeared with moderate variation at a very high level (range 25-32%, comparing provinces). The geographical variation was more prominent in rural pop ulations (range 8-16%) and was approximately half the prevalence level of the urban populations. With the exception of the 15-19 years age-g roup, HIV infection was found to rise sharply with increasing educatio nal attainment (odds ratio, 3.1; confidence interval, 2.6-3.8) when co ntrasting extreme educational levels. Although the assessment of trend s is somewhat restricted, the available information indicates stable p revalence levels in most populations over the last 2-4 years. Conclusi ons: The data showed extremely high HIV prevalence levels among childb earing women. Longer time-intervals between surveys are needed, howeve r, in order to verify the stability in prevalence identified by this s tudy. The tendency to changing differentials by social status is sugge sted as a possible sign of an ongoing process of significant behaviour al change.