Over 600,000 people reached in HIV awareness project

By Correspondent

USAID Mission Director, Sharon Cromer

More than 600,000 people have benefited from the HIV awareness programme which was being implemented by Champion project in partnership with the government of Tanzania and the United States Agency for International Development.


The six-year programme has now ended successfully, reaching 600,000 people with education on HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive health and gender based violence.

The programme was launched in 2008 with the aim to facilitate access to sexual and reproductive health services, including HIV counseling and testing and linking HIV positive workers to services that would enable them to stay healthy and continue working.

Speaking at the closure of the project meeting held in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, USAID Mission Director, Sharon Cromer said the programme oversaw HIV/AIDS programming in the workplace.

Cromer said the project covered 20 regions including Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Mwanza, Dodoma, Iringa, Mbeya, Tanga, Zanzibar, and Coast.

“The goal of the programme was to prevent HIV and help to address harmful gender norms and reduce high-risk sexual behaviours that stimulate new infections,” she said.

Cromer said through Champion’s outreach efforts more than 30,000 individuals were tested and counseled through the project’s male-friendly health services efforts, workplace interventions and community outreach activities.

She said as part of its strategy to prevent HIV and mitigate the potential impacts of construction and infrastructure activities, Champion offered training to a team of workplace and community members, including peer educators, coordinators to enable them facilitate educational and outreach activities across the identified project sites and surrounding communities.

“The programme has increased men's involvement in preventing the spread of HIV in Tanzania, the project took a holistic approach towards HIV prevention and addressed the underlying gender issues that drive HIV transmission,” she said.

“Education was given to reduce men's high-risk behaviors, promote fidelity and reduce the number of sexual partners, eliminate gender-based violence, increase men's participation in health services,” she said.

Meanwhile, minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Seif Rashid commended the project and its partners for the incredible achievement over the past six years and for its substantial contribution into pushing Tanzania’s national HIV and reproductive agendas forward.

He said in the spirit to ensure local ownership, Champion has worked diligently with ward and village level authorities, community-based health care workers and religious community and leaders to enable sustainable change.

“The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is particularly pleased with the project’s contribution to the development of a national male-friendly health services package, I really commend that,” he said.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN