Zambia hails HIV strides, salutes Peace Corps
By George Zulu
ZAMBIA has surpassed the global 95‑95‑95 HIV treatment and viral suppression target achieving 98‑98‑97, Vice President Mutale Nalumango says.
Speaking during the launch of a documentary marking 30 years of Peace Corps in Zambia, Nalumango attributed the achievement to Zambia’s leadership and investment in the health sector supported by the United States (US) through Peace Corps and other initiatives.
“Over the two decades that followed, Zambia mounted one of the world’s most consequential national responses to HIV. Today, Zambia has achieved – and surpassed – the UNAIDS 95-95-95 treatment targets, with the most recent national figures reporting a measure of 98-98-97 in 2025,” she said.
Nalumango said the achievement belonged to the Zambian people.
“This achievement belongs, first and foremost, to Zambia: to its national leadership, to its health professionals, to community health workers, to civil society organisations, to families and to people living with HIV,” she said.
US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Mich Coker said that the joint efforts had saved over 1.3 million lives and increased Zambia’s average life expectancy by about 20 years.
Coker said for more than three decades, Peace Corps volunteers had worked alongside Zambian communities on locally led initiatives in health, education, environment and food security.
He said the documentary highlighted the collaborations by sharing the voices and lived experiences of Zambian counterparts, community leaders and volunteers who worked collectively to strengthen development outcomes.
“Our relationship with Zambia is strengthened not only through governments and institutions, but through thousands of individual relationships between Zambians and Americans,” Coker said.
Peace Corps Zambia country director Natalie Gill‑Mensah said 2,666 volunteers had served in Zambia since 1994.
“Peace Corps is not fundamentally a story about Americans coming to Zambia. It is a story about what can happen when people choose to meet one another, learn from one another and work alongside one another. Some of the relationships you will see tonight began decades ago. Others are still being written. All of them remind us why Peace Corps’ mission remains so important,” Gill-Mensah said.
