Aids And HIV Decrease In Zimbabwe But Women's Life Expectancy Remains Low

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The average person living in Zimbabwe is not expected to reach the age of forty.
Zimbabwe women have an average life expectancy of thirty four years, and men on average do not live past thirty seven, according to the World Health Organisation''s annual report 2006.
Women''s life expectancy has fallen by two years in the last twelve months meaning they now have the shortest life span of women anywhere in the world.
Sarah Page, Deputy director of SAFAIDS (Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service) says women are put under enormous stress from poverty and a lack of jobs.
Women are more likely to die from AIDS related diseases than their male counterparts.
However there is hope for the future.... the UNAIDS 2005 report says that the prevalence of new HIV/AIDS infections has decreased in Zimbabwe.
HIV prevalence among pregnant women in the capital Harare decreased from 35 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2004.
That decline has been attributed to changes in behaviour change.
However high medical costs mean many Zimbabweans cannot afford proper health care.
Category
Zimbabwe
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