Republic of Namibia situated at the South West of Africa near Atlantic Ocean is a country in Sub-Saharan Africa region. It was divided into fourteen political administrative regions during the delimitation committee of 2013. Namibia has a population of 3 million according to the census report of 2011 (Census report 2011). The prevalence rate of HIV in Zambezi Region is higher than in other thirteen regions of Namibia. Zambezi Region is geographically located between the four SADC countries such as Zambia, Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Trans–Caprivi high way is believed to contribute to the high prevalence rate of 37.7 % according to the sentinel survey report of pregnant women of 2012.The traditional beliefs and customs are affecting HIV/AIDS programmes that are implemented in the region by stakeholders and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Namibia as a country since 1992 to 2014 has conducted sentinel surveys among pregnant women and National testing days from 2008 to find out how to address HIV and AIDS epidemic in the country. Zambezi Region according to the sentinel survey reports has the highest HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women than the other thirteen regions. The reasons that are causing the high prevalence rate of HIV in this part of the country are not yet know to the citizens.
The researcher in this research has used the qualitative approach method, to investigate the perceptions of community members regarding reasons of higher HIV prevalence rate in Zambezi Region. Sampling was conducted using purposive sampling in all six constituencies of the region in which 30 participants of 15 females and 15 males were interviewed. The semi - structured interview qualitative method was used to collect data from respondents. This study is the eye opener as the reasons that are contributing to the high HIV prevalence rate in Zambezi Region have been discovered.