Zambia has seen a rise in new HIV infections, a situation that has raised concern in the country's efforts to fight the pandemic, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
The country's National AIDS Council (NAC) said the rate of new HIV infection rose from 70, 000 in 2007 to 82, 000 this year.
NAC Chairperson Bishop Joshua Banda said during a candlelight interfaith service to commemorate the World AIDS Day on Monday night that 79 percent of the new infections were resulted from active people having sex with non-regular partners.
"What is more worrying about this data is that even those who are faithful to their partners are getting infected and so, this is a wake-up
call for all of us to do something to avoid the spread of the pandemic," Bishop Banda was quoted as saying.
Zambia's Interfaith Networking Group on HIV/AIDS, an organization embracing all religions, said there was need to spread latest information on
new infections to sustain prevention among young people, adding that the organization was committed to ensuring that the southern African country
remains free from HIV/ AIDS by 2015.
Zambian Minister of Health Kapembwa Simbao said the unprecedented number of new infections had resulted in an increase in orphans and
vulnerable children, pledging that the government and cooperating partners will consider increasing budgetary support in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Zambia's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate currently stands at 14.3 percent among people aged between 15 and 49.