Lusaka, 22 July, 2025 / 4:45 pm (ACI Africa).
Zambia’s Catholic Archdiocese of Ndola is calling for intensified action across all sectors of society to confront the HIV crisis in the Southern African nation, where an estimated 58,000 children aged 0–14 are living with the virus.
In a Monday, July 21, statement following the latest United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Report on HIV, the Director of the Pontifical Mission Society (PMS) in the Ndola Archdiocese highlights the urgent need for the people of God in the country to protect and support children affected by HIV.
“These are not abstract statistics. These are our children. The children in our homes, schools, parishes, and streets. Their pain is our responsibility,” says Fr. Kelvin Bwalya in reference to the July 2025 report, which also places the number of adolescents aged 10–19 living with the virus in Zambia at 65,000.
Fr. Bwalya cautions that without urgent and intensified efforts, “the next generation is at risk of repeating the tragedies of the past,” even though effective tools such as antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV testing, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) are readily available.
“As the UNICEF 2025 report makes clear, we know what works — but we are not doing enough. We have the medicines, the methods, and the moral duty,” he says, emphasizing the need for bold, compassionate, and coordinated action.
