Causes of community deaths by verbal autopsy among persons with HIV in 33 districts in Zambia, 2020-2023.

ABSTRACT: Zambia has achieved improvements in life expectancy among persons living with HIV (PLHIV) because of high antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage, which should improve survival due to reductions in AIDS-defining conditions. However, recent estimates of the most common causes of death are not widely available. We utilized mortality surveillance data to report on common causes of death among persons with HIV who died in community settings in Zambia. The Zambian Ministry of Health conducted sentinel mortality surveillance of community deaths in 45 hospitals in 33 of 116 districts from January 2020 through December 2023. Verbal autopsies (VA) were conducted through interviews with relatives or close associates of deceased persons using the 2016 World Health Organization tool. HIV status was repo

SUBMITTER: Kapombe P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12711047 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature