This has caused significant turbulence in the population's various livelihood strategies. In response to the fighting, Angolans have moved from their homes in waves. The last wave occurred after the war resumed in earnest in September 1999. Angolan refugees in the DRC, Zambia and Namibia number 350,000. A key concern is the psycho-social consequences on public health of years of warfare including the means by which people seek psychoactive solutions to grinding poverty and insecurity.
Unemployment is widespread.
Many of these children, of both sexes, are also reportedly involved in prostitution. In Southern Africa generally, the main mode of transmission of the HIV virus is heterosexual. It has been demonstrated that unprotected sex is more common under the influence of drugs due to a loss of control. Cannabis growth in Angola is widespread. Cultivation is also reported by the police to be extensive in parts of the central highlands and the east and north-east of the country.