The effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the impact of HIV care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) on death rates in two large cities in Zimbabwe have been described for the first time. The collaborative study conducted by the Health Services Departments of the Cities of Bulawayo and Harare and The Union covers the 30-year period since the beginning of the epidemic.

The results showed that after a substantial rise in crude mortality rates, there has been a decline associated with the introduction of ART. While this outcome is not surprising, the study demonstrates the importance of well-kept records. Routine systems that can measure population numbers and population deaths on an annual basis are rare in resource-limited countries, but where they do exist, as in Harare and Bulawayo, they need to be used, supported and developed so that the data can become more reliable and useful as a measure of what is happening at the population level. The data can also be used in the future to assess the population-level impact of better access to care through the expansion and decentralisation of HIV treatment services. This study was published in the 2011 Supplement of the Journal of the International AIDS Society. Click here to download it. http://www.jiasociety.org/content/14/S1/S2