2011 WORLD AIDS DAY MESSAGE FOR TANZANIA

By Yona Maro

Today is World AIDS Day. It is a day set aside by health ministers around the world to engender a spirit of social tolerance and greater awareness of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on an international scale.

It is also to draw the attention of world leaders and remind them to keep commitments they have made to fight the deadly disease.

Since the inception of this commemoration in 1988, it has been marked with fanfare, seminars and other activities aimed at halting the spread of the pandemic, globally.

While the spread of the disease can be said to have considerably reduced in Europe and America, the same cannot, however, be said of Africa where it has remained the leading cause of death in the population. 

Ever since the 1980s when the disease gained global attention till now, it has ceased to be a death sentence as pharmaceutical companies have developed drugs that could effectively reduce the viral load in affected people and enable them lead normal lives. Research efforts are also being intensified to find a possible cure for the disease in future.

But in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is still on rampage, there is, regrettably, slow progress in the march to halt its spread. Apart from the inefficient national health systems in Africa, there is still a lot of superstition and ignorance about the pandemic as well as stigmatization of those already down with the condition. 

While a lot of funds from donor agencies are deployed into AIDS awareness campaigns, little is dedicated to giving care and treatment to those living with the disease. The situation is not helped by the unnecessary stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS. This stigmatization could be responsible for the reluctance to disclose their status by persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Also, the apathy of some citizens in many African countries for counselling and HIV tests to know their status is perhaps making it difficult to actually ascertain the number of people living with the virus on the continent. According to the figures released last year by the World Health Organization (WHO), there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV. 

And, out of this, 2.5 million were newly infected with the virus. About eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for almost one-third of all new infections and AIDS deaths in the world.

In Tanzania, available statistics show that the disease is decreasing. A survey conducted among women attending antenatal clinics in various parts of the country recently showed that the incidence of the disease has reduced from 5.8 percent in 2003 to 4.4 percent in 2005. 

This is further buttressed by the claim by the TACAIDS and other organisations which work in the field of HIV/AIDS in the country that the prevalence rate has further been reduced to 3.6 percent across various sections of Tanzania’s population.

In spite of the reduction, the country still has many positive persons on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) and positive mothers receiving treatment to prevent transmission of the infection to their babies.

Let us use this occasion to scale up treatment, care and prevention services to ensure a comprehensive and sustainable response to HIV/AIDS. We call on all tiers of government to work in concert to ensure that the pandemic is given the utmost priority in the nation’s health systems. 

Persons living with the condition should not be discriminated against in whatever form. Let all HIV/AIDS information be presented in ways that do not reinforce stigma while employers of labour should educate their employees about the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the workplace