Tanzania’s HIV prevalence dropped slightly—from 5.7% to 5.1%

HIV prevalence has dropped slightly in the country--from 5.7 per cent in 2008/2009 to 5.1 per cent in 2011/12, a new report shows. The infection rate remains higher for women than for men.

Infections in women aged between 23 and 24 stand at 6.6 per cent as opposed to 2.8 per cent in men in the same age group, according to the Tanzania HIV/Aids and Malaria Indicator Survey report for 2011/2012 that was unveiled yesterday.

The report, released by the executive chairperson of the Tanzania Commission for Aids (TACAIDS), Dr Fatma Mrisho, shows that about two per cent of Tanzanians aged between 15 and 24 are infected with HIV--same as in 2007/08.

In general, the report shows that the HIV prevalence rate has declined significantly in the past decade from about 15 per cent at the end of the 1990s.

But President Jakaya Kikwete, who graced the unveiling of the report, was unimpressed. “We still have a long way to go,” said the President, who was flanked by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, cabinet ministers from both the Mainland and Zanzibar and representatives of international organisations. “We must work hard to combat the disease to ensure that prevalence drops further in the next survey.”

He directed regional and district commissioners and other leaders to study the report and come up with strategies that will ensure the prevalence rate drops to three per cent.

Prevalence among women has declined to 6.2 per cent from 6.6 per cent in 2008/2009 as compared to that of men, among whom it has declined to 3.8 per cent from 4.6 per cent.

Njombe region has the highest HIV infection rates at 14.8 per cent followed by Iringa at 9.1 per cent and Mbeya at 9.0 per cent. Shinyanga stands fourth with 7.4 per cent while it is 7.0 per cent in Ruvuma.

Regions with the lowest prevalence include Pemba with 0.3 per cent, Unguja 1.2 per cent, Manyara 1.5 per cent, Tanga 2.4 per cent and Lindi at 2.9 per cent.

Among the big cities, Dar es Salaam is tops with 6.9 per cent, followed by Mwanza with 4.2 per cent. Dodoma stands at 3.3 per cent while it is 3.2 per cent in Arusha.

Dr Mrisho said widows and widowers have higher disease prevalence compared to other social groups. A quarter of those with partners who have died are infected. Divorced and separated couples are among those at highest risk.

Adolescents aged 15-24 have also contracted the disease countrywide, with young women aged 23-24 at higher risk. Njombe has the highest number of youth who have contracted the disease, with a rate of 51 per cent.

Circumcised men are less likely to be infected, with the rates standing at 3.3 per cent as opposed to 5.2 per cent among the uncircumcised. Ninety nine per cent of men in Pemba, Unguja, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Lindi and Mtwara are circumcised In Rukwa, it is 28 per cent, Simiyu 30 per cent, Shinyanga 32 per cent, Mbeya 38 per cent and Kagera 39 per cent.

“If this trend is closely monitored with the regional HIV/Aids prevalence, a close relationship between transmission and circumcision status may be established,” Dr Mrisho noted. Men are more likely to have multiple partners at 21 per cent while women have four per cent possibility.

Further, 62 per cent of women in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar have undergone voluntary blood testing compared to 47 per cent of men. Dar es Salaam, Lindi, Njombe, Ruvuma, Coast and Mtwara have the highest proportion of women who have undergone voluntary testing.

According to The Citizen newspaper, the director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba, said the findings show just how marginalised young women are. “Girls face insurmountable temptations and challenges,” she added. “The social system does not protect them, hence it becomes easier for them to contract HIV.”

The report is based on information from more than 10,000 households. More than 19,000 men and women in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar took part in the survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Government Statistician in Zanzibar.

TACAIDS and the Zanzibar AIDS Commission authorised and coordinated the survey. Funding was provided by USaid, Tacaids, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and other development partners. ICF International, a US-based company, provided technical support.

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