By Shapi Shacinda LUSAKA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - AIDS and poverty are threatening Zambia's economic gains achieved since independence from Britain in 1964, President Levy Mwanawasa said on Monday. Mwanawasa, in a speech prepared for delivery on state television on the eve of Zambia's 42nd independence anniversary, also said levels of gender violence and child sexual abuse had become worrying in the impoverished southern African country. Treasury figures show that one in five of Zambia's 11.5 million people either lives with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, or has full blown AIDS, while 65 percent of the population lives on less that $1 per day. "We must be aware that the (AIDS) pandemic is capable of reversing all the gains we have made since independence. Our youths on whose shoulders the future of this nation lies are particularly vulnerable and need special attention in the fight against the disease," Mwanawasa said. Mwanawasa, who won a second and final five-year term in power this month, drew praise from international donors for his economic policies but struggled to win support among the poor. Mwanawasa pledged after the election -- which his main challenger accused him of rigging -- not to ignore opposition criticism that he had failed to translate growth into a better life for the poor. Zambia gained independence from Britain on 24 October 1964. Western financiers and the United States have lauded Zambia's HIV/AIDS fight although only 65,000 people are receiving free life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs out of a target of 100,000 the country wanted to reach by 2005. Mwanawasa said gender violence and child sexual abuse, which he said made the fight against AIDS difficult, were on the rise. "Many of these cases go unreported while those who perpetuate them go unpunished. We should unite in eradicating these vices as they are a threat to the integrity and pride of the nation," he added. Mwanawasa said Zambia would use the bulk of finances saved from debt relief to provide education for young people, to provide skills training and to shore up economic programmes that would promote job and wealth creation.
