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Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015

KEY FACTS Joined Commonwealth: 1964 Population: 14,539,000 (2013) GDP p.c. growth: 2.0% p.a. 1990–2013 GNI p.c.: US$1,480 (2013) UN HDI 2014: World ranking 141 Life expectancy: 58 years (2013) Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births): 87 (2013) Largest contribution to mortality: HIV/AIDS Government health expenditure: 4.2% of GDP (2012) General information Zambia is a landlocked, fertile and mineral-rich country on the Southern African plateau. It is bordered by: (clockwise from the north) the United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia (via the Caprivi Strip), Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country comprises ten provinces (from south to north): Southern, Western, Lusaka, Central, Eastern, North-Western, Copperbelt, Northern, Muchinga (whose creation was announced in October 2011) and Luapula. Climate: Tropical, but seldom unpleasantly hot, except in the valleys. There are three seasons: a cool dry season April–August; a hot dry season August–November; and a wet season, which is even 298 Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 hotter, November–April. Frost occurs in some areas in the cool season. Rainfall is 508–1,270 mm p.a. Environment: The most significant environmental issues are deforestation, soil erosion and desertification; health risk posed by inadequate water treatment facilities; threats to big game populations by poaching; and air pollution and resulting acid rain in the areas surrounding mining and refining operations in Copperbelt Province. Population: 14,539,000 (2013); 40 per cent of people live in urban areas and 14 per cent in urban agglomerations of more than a million people. The population growth rate stood at 2.7 per cent p.a. between the years of 1990 and 2013. In 2013 the birth rate was 43 per 1,000 people (49 in 1970) and life expectancy was 58 years. Life expectancy fell in the late 1980s, due to AIDS, but began to rise again in the early 2000s. There are 73 indigenous ethnic groups of Bantu origin. The largest, representing about 18 per cent of the population, is the Bemba of the north-east and Copperbelt. Others include the Tonga of Southern Province, the Nyanja of Eastern Province and Lusaka, and the Lozi of the west. There are small minorities of Europeans and Asians. Economy: Zambia is classified as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank. Health Child and maternal health: Infant mortality in Zambia was 56 deaths per 1,000 in 2013, with an under-five mortality rate of 87 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. There has been a decline in the under-five mortality rate since 1990. In 2012 the most prominent known causes of death for children below the age of five years were malaria (16 per cent), acute respiratory infections (15 per cent), intrapartum-related complications (12 per cent) and prematurity (11 per cent). Other contributory causes were neonatal sepsis (six per cent) and congenital anomalies (four per cent). In 2013 Zambia had an adjusted maternal mortality ratio of 280 deaths per 100,000 live births (this figure was estimated at 440 by UN agencies/World Bank in 2010). Burden of disease: Communicable diseases along with maternal, neonatal and nutritional conditions in Zambia accounted for an estimated 67 per cent of all mortality in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Zambia, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, stood at 12.5 per cent in 2012. There has been a gradual and continuous decline in the prevalence of HIV since 1993. There were 2,976,395 reported cases of malaria in 2009. The number of deaths from malaria fell by around a third in the decade 2001–11, with a further drop between 2011 and 2012. In the period 1996–2012 there was a reduction of more than a third in the estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB). Estimated mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) from the disease showed a Zambia


Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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