HIV rate among Swazi women now 42%

Some 42 percent of pregnant women in Swaziland are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, a jump of 3 percent since last year, according to a government report released Friday.

The small southern African nation has the highest AIDS rate in the world and average life expectancy is just 37 years as a result. The report said the increase in 2008 was partly because more women were taking life-prolonging antiretroviral medication.

An estimated 185,000 of Swaziland’s 1 million people are HIV positive, and about 30,000 are currently receiving antiretrovirals.

AIDS activists blame King Mswati III for doing too little to spread prevention messages and promote condom usage and HIV testing, and they say he sets a bad example by having 13 wives.