Tuesday, June 25, 2013

PrEP works for injecting drug users too

Syringes used by IDUs
A daily tablet of tenofovir, a drug otherwise used to treat HIV infection, reduced the risk of HIV acquisition among people who inject drugs by 49% in a clinical trial. Those who took the medication most consistently had higher levels of protection, report scientists from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) in The Lancet today.

These findings from Thailand come from the only pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial ever conducted with injecting drug users, and show that PrEP can reduce infections associated with sharing injecting equipment as well as sexual transmission among drug users.

Incidence was 0.35 per 100 person-years in the PrEP group and 0.68 per 100 person-years in the placebo group, representing a 48.9% reduction in infections.

The data reinforce previous findings on PrEP’s efficacy in men who have sex with men and heterosexual serodiscordant couples. “This is a significant step forward for HIV prevention,” commented Jonathan Mermin of the CDC. “We now know that PrEP can work for all populations at increased risk for HIV.”

The CDC has issued interim guidance recommending that PrEP is provided to injecting drug users who are at high risk of acquiring HIV, as part of a comprehensive package of prevention  services.

Bangkok Tenofovir Study

In order to find out whether a daily tablet of tenofovir (Viread) as PrEP would reduce the risk of HIV infection in this population, American and Thai investigators recruited 2413 people who reported injecting drugs in the previous year. All participants were aged 20 to 60 and were HIV negative at baseline.

Participants were randomised to either receive tenofovir or a placebo (dummy pill).

Of note, the trial drug was tenofovir alone, rather than a combination of tenofovir and FTC (Truvada), as has been used in most other PrEP studies. Participants took 300mg of tenofovir daily, which is the same dose as is contained in Truvada.

Commencing in 2005, this was a controversial study, bitterly opposed by drug user and AIDS activists in Thailand. They felt that PrEP was being offered as a second-best option when needle exchange – a prevention intervention of proven efficacy – was unavailable. The investigators maintain that Thai law prohibits the distribution of needles to inject illegal drugs, but activists blame the US government policy which prohibits federal funding of needle exchange.

They also complained of a lack of meaningful community consultation and limited efforts to make PrEP accessible to injecting drug users in Thailand after the trial has finished.

Nonetheless, the trial ran from 2005 to 2012, with 2413 individuals taking part. Recruitment was slow but retention good – participants stayed in the study an average of four years.

Participants’ average age was 31 years, 80% were male, 48% had primary school education or less, and 79% had previously been incarcerated.

At the beginning of the trial, 63% of the participants had injected drugs in the previous twelve weeks, although only 9% injected daily. One-in-five participants reported sharing needles. Drugs commonly injected were methamphetamine (33%), the tranquilliser midazolam (23%) and heroin (22%).

Drug use dropped dramatically as people took part in the trial (with similar falls in both arms of the study). After one year in the study, only 23% reported injecting drugs and 2% reported sharing needles in the previous twelve weeks.

Self-reports of drug use may underestimate actual use, but the reductions may also be due to the risk-reduction counselling that all participants received and the opioid substitution therapy that some of them took up. Perhaps as a consequence of these prevention interventions, there were far fewer HIV infections in the trial than there had been in previous cohorts of Thai drug users.

At baseline, 22% of participants had had more than one sexual partner in the previous twelve weeks, falling to 11% after one year. Five per cent of the male participants reported sex with another man.

Adherence - directly observed therapy

The study employed directly observed therapy (DOT) and financial incentives. This is likely to have affected the levels of adherence and retention seen in the trial, limiting the extent to which these finding can be generalised across all populations of people who inject drugs.

At the beginning of the trial and at each monthly visit, participants could choose to either take their daily tablets independently at home and record adherence in a daily diary, or to come into the clinic each day and have the pill administered by study staff. For those on DOT, the daily diaries were filled out by study staff.

Participants received 70 baht ($2) each day they came to the clinic for directly observed therapy, potentially earning 2100 baht ($60) a month if their attendance was good. (The official minimum wage in Thailand is 300 baht a day, less than $10). Participants also received 350 baht ($10) for attending monthly study visits, when HIV tests, side-effects monitoring, counselling and behavioural assessments were conducted.

Staff followed up missed appointments with phone calls and home visits.

Participants chose to be on directly observed therapy most (86.9%) of the time.

According to daily diaries, participants took the study drug on 83.8% of days. This didn’t differ between the PrEP arm and the placebo arm. However, older people and women had better adherence.
Adverse events

Consistent with other PrEP studies, the trial did not identify any significant safety concerns associated with daily oral use of tenofovir. Those taking tenofovir were more likely to experience nausea or vomiting (8%) than those in the placebo group (5%), but this was largely during the first two months of treatment.

The amount and severity of other adverse events reported were similar among participants in both the treatment and control groups. There was no indication of elevated creatinine or renal failure among participants in the tenofovir group.

No tenofovir resistance was found among participants who became infected during the trial.
HIV infections

Fifty of the 2413 participants became HIV positive during the study – 17 were in the PrEP group, and 33 were in the placebo group. Incidence was 0.35 per 100 person-years in the PrEP group and 0.68 per 100 person-years in the placebo group.

This amounts to a 48.9% reduction in HIV incidence, in an intent-to-treat analysis (95% confidence interval 9.6 – 72.2%).

For reasons that remain unclear, infection rates did not differ for the first three years that participants stayed in the trial, but diverged strongly afterwards.

Efficacy was stronger in women and in people over the age of 40.

Drug concentration testing on blood samples of 13 people in the PrEP group who seroconverted showed that 39% of them had detectable tenofovir in their blood.

An analysis that was not originally planned, and which excluded individuals with poor adherence and without detectable drug in their blood, suggested that PrEP reduced infections by 73.5%.

It is impossible to know how many of the HIV infections which occurred are linked to drug use, and how many to sexual transmission. Some argue that the decreasing rates of drug use in the cohort point to a role for sexual transmission, while the authors note that those who seroconverted reported more ongoing injecting than those who did not. Further behavioural analyses will be published at a later date.
Conclusions

The authors note the high burden of HIV infection attributable to injecting drug use in many parts of the world and suggest that regulators and public health bodies can now consider adding PrEP to HIV prevention programmes for people who inject drugs.

For the United States, the CDC has already issued interim guidance suggesting that injecting drug users at high risk of infection should be offered Truvada (not tenofovir) as PrEP, “as part of a comprehensive set of prevention services”.

However, at present in the United States, Thailand and numerous other countries, that package of services only occasionally includes needle exchange. The effectiveness of this intervention was proven many years ago, it also protects against hepatitis C, is acceptable to people who inject drugs, and is cheap.

“PrEP is not a replacement for politically sensitive needle exchange programmes,” commented Salim Abdool Karim in a commentary accompanying the Lancet article. He called for it to be included as part of a combination prevention programme for injecting drug users.

Similarly, Michel Sidibé of UNAIDS noted that this combination should include provision of clean needles and syringes, opioid substitution therapy, accessible health care services, the removal of punitive laws, and work with police and law enforcement bodies.

“We now need to get serious about making PrEP available to those who can benefit,” said Mitchell Warren of AVAC, noting the lack of demonstration projects to answer critical questions about how best to deliver PrEP.

In relation to people who inject drugs, considerable work needs to be done on how acceptable the strategy is in different communities and how it can be delivered in ‘real world’ settings without the resources of a clinical trial. Effective ways to support individuals with adherence need to be identified, perhaps not requiring directly observed therapy and financial incentives.

Moreover, realistic prices for PrEP drugs need to be negotiated, otherwise marginalised people in low- and middle-income countries are unlikely to benefit.
  • SOURCE: Roger Pebody, AIDS MAP

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Speaker Makinda spearheads zero discrimination drive at TAPAC Annual Conference

THE speaker of the National Assembly Anne Makinda has underscored the need for concerted efforts to ensure that the country attains no new infections by eradicating all forms of discrimination for people living with HIV/Aids in the country.
TAPAC delegates in a group photo with Speaker of the National Assembly Ms Anne Makinda (3rd right seated)
Makinda made the remarks when she was making her key note address to participants at the inaugural of a two day annual conference of Tanzania Parliamentarians Aids Coalition at the Saint Gasper Conference Centre in Dodoma yesterday.
She said: “We have succeeded, after twelve years of TAPAC existence in eradicating, to a greater extent, stigma and other forms of discrimination at the grass roots level.”She said infection of new HIV from mother to child, and the number of ARVs users has dramatically shot up.
But of our success the Inter Parliamentarian Union sent a delegation to TAPAC and came to learn what we were doing to reach to that level of success.
She added that Tanzania was the only country in which its parliament was actively involved in the war against HIV/AIDS.
A section of TAPAC delegates following up a presentation
This of course is an increasing gesture, thanks to all MPs, our donors both at local and international level.
We will soon send a draft to the august house so that all draconian laws which were discriminatory could be changed.
On her part, Lediana Mng’ong’o, the TAPAC Chairman said the objective of the two day seminar is to build capacity to all MPS, who are members on HIV/AIDS activities so that they could educate their voters in their respective constituencies.
“We aim at raising awareness on the level of HIV/AIDS prevalence and the way to combat it so that no more infections could be recorded in the country,” she said.
Presenting greetings from the country representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Dr Bwijo Bwijo,
HIV and AIDS Programme Specialist said relations between UNDP and the National Assembly are long and close spanning more than a decade in Tanzania.
“Globally, UNDP is committed to building better Parliaments and stronger democracies covering more than fifty countries,” he said.
TAPAC Chairperson Ms Ledian Mung'ong'o (4th left seated) joined by Speaker Anne Makinda on her left, Dr Fatma Mrisho of TACAIDS, Vitalis Makayula from NACOPHA (extreme right), Job Ndugai--Deputy Speaker (second left) and Prof. Mark Mwandosya extreme left
He added that one of the main plan of the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) outcomes is to enhance the ability of key institutions to effectively implement their election and political function and better fulfill their representative, legislative and oversight responsibilities.
He remarked: “Our partnership is based on a shared understanding that development depends on good governance, and good governance depends on strong parliaments.”
He said it is through our Legislatures Support Project (LSP) that we have been working closely with respective portfolio committees of the National Assembly and the House of Representatives in Zanzibar.
  • SOURCE: Nasser Kigwangallah, in Dodoma

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Govt, UNICEF launch Shuga Radio drama series to get to zero HIV infection in Tanzania



Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) in collaboration with UNICEF and in partnership with Clouds Radio Station on Friday launched the award winning radio drama series popularly known as ‘Shuga Radio ‘in Tanzania. The drama series targets adolescents and young people in Tanzania with key messages on HIV and AIDS.
TACAIDS Commissioner for Youth Faraja Kotta Nyalandu (right) accompanied by compatriot Nancy Sumari to colour the launch of Shuga Radio Programme. Extreme left is Joseph Kusaga, Clouds FM Director


The launch was conducted at Kinondoni’s Biafra Grounds on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam.

Shuga Radio aims at engaging and creating dialogue among adolescents and young people about HIV and AIDS, through entertainment and education approach to address risky sexual behaviours in efforts to reduce new HIV infections among them.

The 12 series radio program will be aired on Clouds FM every Thursday at 2pm and at the same times by radio Kitulo FM in Makete District, Njombe Region. The programme intends to contribute into helping Tanzania attaining its goal of  zero new infections.
A section of kids and youths turned up for the Shuga progrmme launch at Biafra grounds, Kinondoni

The guest of honor at the launch, TACAIDS Executive Chairperson, Dr. Fatma Mrisho who was represented by Jumanne Issango, Director of Advocacy and Information (DAI) said the launch of Shuga Radio was very timely and critical in Tanzania because of the increasing rates of HIV among adolescents.

Every day there are more than 2,500 new HIV infections in young people across the world, four out of 10 are in sub-Saharan Africa and the vast majority of these are young women and adolescent girls.
Habari zenu!!: Shoko from NACP

Similar trends are also observed in Tanzania according to the latest evidence says, Jama Gulaid, UNICEF Representative for Tanzania.

“Shuga Radio is a promising example of a public private partnership model of how to work with partners together with young people to contribute to national efforts of reducing new HIV infections. Sugar Radio is an initiative to change behavior and create demand. Sugar aims to address the drivers of the epidemic and promote uptake and utilization of HIV services with a focus on HIV testing and counselling and condom use.”
Whatz up!!

The launch of Shuga Radio comes at a time when Tanzania is making significant improvements in HIV and AIDS national response. According to the Tanzania HIV and AIDS and Malaria Indicator survey (THMIS), there has been a decline in HIV prevalence among adults aged 15-49 from 7 per cent in 2003 to 5.1 per cent in 2011/12.  

However, according to Dr. Mrisho, the number of new HIV infections is still high, with approximately 80,000 Tanzanians getting infected with HIV each year.

“I truly believe that innovative programs that resonate with young people and effective partnerships are required if Tanzania is to attain its goal of zero new HIV infections,” she added.
Gulaid:Delivering a message of Hope to a Kiswahili speaking Youths

The Managing Director of Clouds Group, Joseph Kusaga, also expressed his appreciation for the partnership with TACAIDS, the Ministry of Health and UNICEF on the important initiative.

“To be able to give back to our community and at the same time to use our media platform to reach the millions of young people who tune into our radio station on a daily basis with information that is going to help save their lives and help them to transition into healthy and productive adults is very important to us.”

In the same event, Faraja Kotta Nyalandu who is TACAIDS Commissioner for Youth and Shuga Ambassador, urged youths to take extra care note when engaging themselves into sex encounter and not dare “selling the match”
Beautiful and Safe: We Never and won't sale the Match

She said, selling the match—which is all about getting into unprotected sex (use of condom) will lead to your early death

The launch marks the roll-out in Tanzania of a multi-country public-private partnership initiative between UNICEF, Multi-Media Television (MTV) and HIV free generation (PEPFAR) that was developed as a Regional initiative, and has now been adapted to Tanzanian context.
Message sent and delivered
Tune in to Clouds FM every Thursday at 2pm to follow the lives of a group of four young fictional characters aged 15-24 sharing their stories on life  choices, dreams, friendships, challenges and triumphs in a world with HIV and AIDS. 
Un identified couple of Biafra residents also
witnessed the event

Serikali, UNICEF wazindua program ya redio kufifisha maambukizi ya VVU hadi sifuri



TUME ya kudhibiti UKIMWI (TACAIDS) kwa kushirikian na shirika la UNICEF pamoja na kituo cha Clouds Radio mwishoni mwa wiki wamezindua kipindi maalumu cha redio kijulikanacho kama “Shuga” mahsusi kwa vijana kikilenga kuwawezesha  kuongea na kuwasiliana kuhusu jinsi ya kujikinga na maambukizi ya VVU na UKIMWI.
Kamshna wa TACAIDS Bi Faraja Kotta Nyalandu akiashiria uzinduzi wa programu ya Shuga mahsusi kwa kuwalinda vijana na maambukizi ya VVU kupitia Redio Clouds juzi huko Kinondoni, Biafra

Uzinduzi huo ulifanyika katika viwanja vya Biafra, Kinondoni, nje kidogo ya jiji la Dar es salaam.

Shuga kinalenga kuchochea maongezi miongoni mwa vijana kuhusu VVU na UKIMWI kwa kutoa burudani na elimu ambayo itakuwa inawaasa kuhusu hatari zinazowakabili kama hawatachukua tahadhari inayofaa

Ni mtiririko wa vipindi 12 ambavyo vitarushwa na redio Claud FM ya Dar es salaam pamoja na ile ya Kitulo FM ya Makete, mkoani Njombe. Lengo ni kufikia ndoto ya kitaifa ya kufuta kabisa kabisa maambukizo ya VVU miongoni mwa watanzania  hadi kufikia sifuri ifikapo mwaka 2015
Mwakilishi Mkazi wa UNICEF nchini Dk.Jama Gulaid akisoma hutoba wakati wa uzinduzi huo

Mgeni wa Heshima katika hafla hiyo—Mwenyekiti Mtendaji wa TACAIDS Dk Fatma Mrisho—ambaye aliwakilishwa na Mkurugenzi wa Ulaghibishi na Habari wa Tume Bw. Jumanne Issango alisema uzinduzi wa Shuga ulikuwa muhimu na umekuja wakati muafaka katika kipindi ambacho maambukizi ya VVU miongoni mwa vijana yalikuwa yanaongezeka.

Kasema, kila siku kuna mambukizi mapya 2,500 miongoni mwa vijana duniani kote, wanne kati ya kumi wanatoka Kusini mwa Jangwa la Sahara (SSA) ambapo ndipo wengi wa vijana hawa wa kike na kiume wanatoka
Baadhi ya wakazi wa Biafra wakifuatilia uzinduzi huo

Mwelekeo kama huo umejionesha Tanzania kwa mujibu wa ushahidi wa hivi karibuni, akasema Dk Jama Gulaid—mwakilishi mkazi wa UNICEF nchini wakati wa hafla hilo iliyohudhuriwa na mamia  ya wakazi waeneo hilo lililo karibu na Chuo Kikuu Huria (OUT).

Programu ya Shuga ni mfano wenye matumaini wa ushirikiano kati ya taasisi za umma, na binafsi kwa kufanya kazi pamoja na vijana ili kuchangia katika jitihada za kupunguza maambukizo mapya ya VU, alisema Dk Jama na kuongeza: Shuga ni kipindi ambacho kitajikita katika kuchochea mabadiliko ya tabia. Ni kipindi kitakachobainisha vichocheo vya mambukizi ya VVU miongoni mwa vijana na kutoa mwangaza wa namna ya kupata huduma za ushauri nasaha, upimaji na matumizi ya kondomu.
Baadhi ya washiriki wa uzinduzi huo

Kwa mujibu wa matokeo mapya kabisa ya Utafiti wa Kitaifa kuhusu mwelekeo wa UKIMWI na Malaria (THMIS, 2012) kumekuwa na kupungua kidogo kwa maambukizi miongoni mwa watanzania wenye umri kati ya miaka 15 na 49. Hii ni kutoka asilimia 7 mwaka  2003 hadi asilimia 5.1 mwaka 2012

Hata hivyo, kwa mujibu wa Dk Mrisho, kiwango cha mambukizi bado kiko juu ikiwa ni takribani ya wastani wa watanzania 80,000 wanaoambukizwa kila mwaka.

“Hakika naamini kwamba ubunifu huu ambao unawaunganisha vijana na wadau wengine katika vita hii ndio unaotakiwa hapa kwetu ili kutuwezesha kufikia lengo la maambukizo sifuri,” alisema Dk Mrisho.
Umma ukifuatilia matukio uwanjani hapo

Mkurugenzi wa Clouds Radio Bw. Joseph Kusaga,alisema ushirikiano huo ulikuwa wa kutia moyo na kuahidi kutumia tasisi yake kuendelea kutoa elimu sahihi na elimishi kwa lengo la kuwasaidia vijana kuwa na afya bora hadi kufikiaa utu uzima
Wageni waalikwa

Naye Bi Faraja Kotta Nyalandu ambaye ni Kamishna wa Tume pamoja na kuwa  balozi wa Shuga akawaataka vijana wasikubali kuuza mechi. Kwa mujibu wa Bi Nyalandu kauli mbiu ya “kijana usiuze mechi” alilenga kuwaasa vijana kuchukua tahadhari wakati wa mahusiano ya kingono.
Bi Vicky Chuwa akimwongoza Mwakilishi wa UNICEF kutoka jukwaani

Uzinduzi huu unaashiria utekelezwaji wa mkakati wa mataifa kadhaa ya kikanda uliosimamiwa na ya UNICEF, Multi-Media Television (MTV) na Kizazi kisichokuwa na UKIMWI wa PEPFAR sasa unaridhiwa katika maudhui ya kitanzania.
Kiduku

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Towards zero Stigma: Kuelekea Unyanyapaa Sifuri

Ifike mahali sasa watanzania tuwe katika hali hii ya kuona UKIMWI ni ugonjwa wa kawaida na tuwe huru kubainisha hali zetu bila kuona soo wala nini lakini pia tusiwanyanyapae au kuwashangaa wale wenye VVU --Lengo ni kufikia Unyanyapaa Sifuri ifikapo 2015 au mbele kidogo

Hebu ona kibonzo hiki kama nilivyomwomba rafiki yangu cartoonist Bw. Kabwela Fazili anisadie kuweka mawazo yangu ambayo nayo niliyapata kutoka kwa nguli wa masuala ya UKIMWI nchini Dk. Bennett Fimbo miaka minne iliyopita.
Safi kabisa, hana noma wala nini--kasahau dose yake home anaomba aletewe ofisini--abiria wanamshangaa tu--ebo!!

More Photos and Events during The Kilimanjaro Challenge Against HIV and AIDS Awards

Ms Halima Sharrif (left), from John Hopkins University, Benedict Sichalwe from AJAAT (middle) and Tenga B Tenga, Communications Manager at Geita Gold Mine in a tete-a-tete during the ceremony

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Makampuni,mashirika nchini toeni hela jameni--vita ya UKIMWI sio lelemama: Jaji Boman na Dk Mrisho

JAJI mstaafu Mark Bomani amayatolea wito makampuni mbali mbali pamoja na mashirika ya kibiashara nchini sasa kuingia "kiukweli" katika kulisaidia taifa kupambana na tatizo la UKIMWI unaosababishwa na virusi vya UKIMWI kwa kuchangia katika kampeni dhidi ya ugonjwa huo
Wakurugenzi wa TACAIDS wakipokea hundi kutoka kwa mgeni rasmi
Hakutakuwa na maana yoyote kwa taifa kuendelea kutegemea wafadhili wa nje kutoa misaada ya kupambana na ugonjwa ambao kwa kiasi kikubwa hauwaathiri wananchi wao bali wanaoathirika ni watanzania na familia zao ambao wengine ni waajiriwa katika makampuni au mashirika hayo
 
Bw. Bomani ambaye pia mwenyekiti wa bodi ya kampuni ya kutengeneza bia ya Serengeti (SBL) alitoa changamoto hiyo juzi jioni wakati wa uzinduzi wa changamoto ya kila mwaka ya kuchangia kampeni dhidi ya UKIMWI kupitia kupanda mlima Kilimanjaro.

Kampeni hiyo--maarufu kama "The Kilimanjaro Challenge Against HIV and AIDS--au Changamoto ya Kupanda Mlima Killimanjaro katika mapambano dhidi ya UKIMWI"--huendeshwa na mgodi wa kuchimba madini wa Geita (Geita Gold Mine) na imekuwa ikiendeshwa kwa ufanisi  takribani miaka kumi sasa
Watoto Iren na Joffrey watakaopanda mlima mwaka huu

"Natoa changamoto kwa mashirika mengine pamoja na makampuni yote hapa nchini sasa yaanze kuchukua mkondo wa GGM kwa kuchangia bila kinyongo katika kampeni dhidi ya UKIMWI," akasema Jaji Bomani katika hafla ambayo pia ilitumika kutoa fedha kwa baadhi ya asasi tofauti zinazojihusisha na kampeni dhidi ya UKIMWI.

Tuige mfano huu kwa kuanzisha harambee za namna hii au tofauti tukilenga kutunisha mfuko wa mapambano dhidi ya ugonjwa huu--tusitegemee watu wa nje kwani nao wanachoka--wakati tatizo ni letu, akasisitiza Jaji Bomani.

Mpango wa "The Kilimanjaro Challenge Against HIV and AIDS" kwa mara ya kwanza ulianzishwa mwaka 2002 ukihusisha wapanda mlima 47 na uliwezesha kukusanya shilingi milioni 62. Hadi sasa zaidi ya shilingi bilioni 2 zimekusanywa na kunufaisha zaidi ya asasi 30 zisizo za kiserikali (NGO) zilizo katika mapambano dhidi ya UKIMWI.

Kwa mujibu wa GGM, lengo la changamoto hiyo, ni kujenga uelewa zaidi juu ya ugonjwa wa UKIMWI na VVU  na kutoa msaada wa kifedha kwenye mpango huo na kujenga timu bora ya kitaifa katika mapambano hayo.
Kiongozi wa wapanda mlima Faustine Chambo akitoa ushuhuda wa kinachojiri kabla ya kupanda mlima miongoni mwa wapanda mlima watarajiwa--hofu!!
Aidha Jaji Bomani aliwapongeza vijana wawili kutoka asasi ya Moyo wa Huruma ya Geita--Irene John (14) na Joffrey Yohana (13) kwa kuwa miongoni mwa watakaopanda mlima Kilimanjaro katika kampeni ya mwaka huu

Asasi zilizokabidhiwa fedha kutokana na kampeni ya mwaka jana (2012) ni pamoja  na Moyo wa Hurum ya Geita iliyopata shilingi milioni 150. Nyingine na kiwango kilichopokelewa katika mabano ni Tume ya UKIMWI (TACAIDS)--milioni 200), Geita VCT (AMREF)--milioni 150), Mkapa HIV Foundation (milioni 50), Geita Hospital (milioni 40), na nyingine,.

Naye Mwenyekiti Mtendaji wa TACAIDS Dk.Fatma Mrisho hakumumunya maneno pale alipozea uzito uliopo mbele ya Tume na taifa kwa ujumla katika kuhakikisha ndoto ya Maambukizi ya VVU Sifuri, Vifo vya UKIMWI Sifuri na Unyanyapaa unaohusiana na VVU na UKIMWI Sifuri ifikapo mwaka 2015 inafikiwa.

Hii ni changamoto mbele yetu. Tunahitaji raslimali fedha na watu kama kweli tuna nia ya kiufikia azma hiyo, alisema Dk Mrisho na kuongeza kuwa kama makampuni na mashirika yataendelea kuona kampeni dhidi ya UKIMWI haiwahusu ni dhahiri kazi hiyo itakuwa ngumu.
Wawakilishi wa makampuni yaliyochangia fedha siku hiyo kwa kununua picha

Akilisifia shirika la GGM, Dk Mrisho aliyachagiza mashirika mengine yaingie katika kampeni hii bila kuchelewa kwani kinyume na hapo, taifa litaendelea kupoteza nguvu kazi muhimu. Takribani shilingi bilioni 1.3
zinahitajika katika mapambano dhidi ya UKIMWI kila mwaka ingawa kiwango kinachopatikana ni chini au karibu nusu yake tu.

Kwa muijibu wa Dk Mrisho, visababishi vya maambukizi ya VVU kwa kiwango kikubwa ni watu kuwa na wapenzi au wenza wengi ki ngono na kwa wakati mmoja . Lakini pia akasema yapo maeneo mengine yanayochangia maambukizi ambayo hayajajadiliwa kwa nguvu sana kwa mfano, wanaume wanaofanya ngono na  wanaume wenzao, ukosefu wa matibabu ya awali ya  watoto pamoja na masuala ya kijamii, mila na desturi
Mwakilishi wa shirika la Moyo wa Huruma la Geita akipokea hundi

Naye Mkurugenzi wa GGM Bw. Omari Issa taasisi zisizokuwa na fedha a kujiendesha zinapata unafuu kupitia msaada huu.  "Watoto waliopoteza wazazi wao kwa ugonjwa wa UKIMWI wanapata kujaliwa na kujenga tabasamu tena katika nyuso zao kupitia upendo wanaoupata," akasema  Bw. Omari

Miaka mingi imepita lakini malengo ya GGM juu ya  Kilimanjaro Challenge katika kuleta uelewa juu ya janga la UKIMWI ndani ya Tanzania hayatabadilika, kwa mujibu wa Bw. Omari



Baadhi ya washereheshaji kutoka Geita Gold Mine
 
wageni waalikwa wakipeana mikakati ya baadaye