HARARE, Oct 10 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence rate has dropped by 4.5 percent in the past two years because of changed sexual behaviour, a state-run daily reported Monday, quoting from a recent survey.
"The percentage of Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49 infected with HIV has dropped from 24.6 percent to a still very high 20.1 percent in the last two years," The Herald newspaper said.
"This makes Zimbabwe the second country in sub-Saharan Africa, after Uganda, to see its HIV infection rate start dropping."
Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said the survey by Zimbabwe's health ministry, the UNAIDS agency and the US Center for Disease Control also showed a decline in sexually transmitted infections.
"Everyone now seems to know the importance of preventing HIV and to an extent are trying their best to avoid getting infected, which should mean they are practising safe sex," Parirenyatwa told the newspaper.
"Girls are now delaying when it comes to starting sexual activity and almost everyone in the country has an understanding of what HIV is all about."
Zimbabwe is one of the countries hardest hit by the HIV and AIDS pandemic with at least 3,000 people dying weekly from AIDS-related illness -- or about one person every three minutes -- according to the National Aids Council.
Zimbabwe's battle with the pandemic has been compromised by a collapsing public health sector and dwindling donor funding due to strained relations between Harare and its former Western benefactors.
The government collects a monthly levy from workers to fund HIV and AIDS projects.
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