NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

IN Southern Africa, Zambia has one of the world’s most devastating HIV and AIDS pandemic. In 2009, nearly 76,000 adults were newly infected with HIV, representing about 200 new infections each day.

Before 1984, when the first AIDS case was reported in Zambia, not much was known about the epidemic.
In the early stages of the epidemic, much of what was known about HIV prevalence was but kept secret by many. People were reluctant to speak out about the growing HIV prevalence not until then-republican President, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, made a public announcement in 1987 that his son had died of AIDS.

That announcement in itself evoked a lot of emotions and perspectives on HIV and AIDS, that arguably are still rife today.