Sentinel surveillance identifies a high HIV prevalence in population in Zimbabwe

Abstract

a position paper on HIV surveillance and planning in Zimbabwe during the late 1990's.Sero-surveillance of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and analysis of the patterns and temporal trends of the acquired immunodeficiency disease (AIDS) epidemic assist in planning for its impact and the continued development and monitoring of preventive strategies. Data regarding differential sero-prevalence status in rural versus urban areas of Zimbabwe and indeed many other countries in the region is very sparse. Anecdotal evidence suggests that whereas early infections occurred in mobile urban and high risk populations, the epidemic could now be taking hold in traditionally non-high risk categorized rural populations. The notion of the epidemic being spatially variable with rural areas being less affected may, with time and given the developed road infrastructures, not hold true