LUSAKA and Western Provinces have highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in Zambia, currently standing at 16.1 and 16 percent respectively.
According to National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework 2017-2021 report, at the bottom is Muchinga Province at 5.9 percent followed by North West Province at 6.9 percent and Eastern Province at 8.2 percent.
The report obtained at the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council says second highest is Copperbelt at 14.2 per cent with Central and Southern Provinces standing at 13.4 percent each.
The rest are Northern, 9.7 per cent and Luapula 9.3 percent. The report further says that Zambia has one of the highest HIV burdens in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Last year around 46,000 became infected with HIV in Zambia while the current overall HIV annual incidence among adult men and women aged 15-49 years is 0.70 percent.
The report however says the annual incidence of HIV among adults aged 15-49 is higher in women (1.08 percent) compared to men (0.33 per cent).
It also notes that the adult HIV prevalence in Zambia has also declined, falling by 19 percent from 2003 to the current levels of 11.2 percent.
However despite the declines, the HIV prevalence rate is seventh highest rate globally.
There are approximately 1.2 million people in Zambia living with HIV and the country has a generalized HIV epidemic among adults aged 15-49 years with more women 13.6 percent than men 8.5 percent living with the virus.
Women are disproportionately affected due to several factors including gender imbalances in all spheres of life and Gender Based Violence (GBV)
In morbidity and mortality trends, the report notes that Zambia has recorded significant improvement in health with corresponding reductions in the burdens of disease.
The reductions, however, the report says, are not adequate as the burden of disease remains high.
It says the high disease burden in Zambia is compounded by high levels of poverty and high HIV prevalence.