Zimbabwe Policy Profile - 2003, Zimbabwe

The first AIDS case in Zimbabwe was identified in 1985. HIV sentinel surveillance was initiated in 1991. In 2000, Zimbabwe undertook the first fully implemented ANC survey since 1997. It found that 35 percent of women attending ANCs were infected with HIV. The 2001 ANC findings appeared to indicate that ANC prevalence had fallen to 29.5 percent. In August 2003, Zimbabwe released a report presenting new national HIV/AIDS prevalence data, indicating that HIV prevalence in ANC surveys peaked in 2000 at 34 percent, fell in 2001 to 30 percent, and decreased further in 2002 to 25.7 percent. Using these figures, 24.9 percent of Zimbabwean adults are HIV-positive. Several Zimbabwean HIV/AIDS experts stated that the new figures did not represent a real decline in HIV prevalence, but rather a correction of flawed data from previous surveys.