LUSAKA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States has provided Zambia with 3.5 million U.S. dollars to support a cervical cancer screening program in the southern African nation, Zambia's health authorities said on Monday.

The funds, released under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will help popularize cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV/AIDS and currently undertaking antiretroviral treatment, said Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya.

Chilufya also mentioned the Partnership to End AIDS and Cervical Cancer, which was launched by PEPFAR, the George W. Bush Institute and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, saying the partnership helps save lives of Zambian women from HIV and cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is the most common type of cancer in Zambia, where 1,300 women die of cervical cancer out of the 1,900 cases diagnosed each year.