THE government has launched a new HIV Testing and Counselling Campaign for adolescent girls who are highly vulnerable in seven highly-affected regions.
The campaign was launched over the
weekend by the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender,
Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, who underscored the need for
young girls across the country to cultivate a culture of testing their
health status.
The campaign, dubbed ‘Besti Jiongeze,
Twende Tukapime’, will be implemented jointly by the National Aids
Control Programme (NACP) with support from the US President’s Emergency
Plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) through the SAUTI project.
It also aims to reach over 170,000
adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years who are at a high risk
of HIV in seven regions including Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe,
Shinyanga, Tabora and Kilimanjaro.
Speaking during the launching ceremony
of the campaign, Ms Mwalimu called upon girls and young women in
Shinyanga region and the six regions to take the advantage of the
campaign by turning out in big numbers in order to know their health
status and take appropriate steps.
“Encourage all your friends and
colleagues to go for the voluntary HIV testing campaign so that you can
know your health status,” she said.
She urged families and communities to
educate and groom well adolescent youth who face challenges in
transition to adulthood including HIV infection risk. The minister
pointed out that the inaugurated health campaign is an important step in
contributing government efforts to prevent new infections of HIV in
vulnerable groups and young people who are at high risk.
“I urge you to continue to add speed to
continue with these services effectively across the country”, she
appealed. Ms Mwalimu said statistics on the state of AIDS in Tanzania
for 2011/12 indicate that infection at national level is currently 5.1
per cent with women experiencing 6.2pc and 3.8pc for men aged 15-49
years being dipped by 1.9pc as from 2003/2004.
“These figures indicate that infections
are greater in women compared to men of all ages and especially for
young people, where infection in women aged 23-24 is more than double to
6.6pc compared to young men which is 2.8pc”, she explained.
On her part, USAID Tanzania
Representative Ms Janean Davis appreciated efforts made by the
government of Tanzania and other partners in bringing HIV services to
key and vulnerable populations who sometimes face stigma and
discrimination in accessing health services because of their age or
marital status. “Adolescent girls and young women are a critical yet
often underserved age cohort for HIV efforts.
Reaching people with HIV prevention
services when they are young and before they have established practices
that increase their risk of HIV infection is an essential step”, she
said. She reiterated USAID’s commitment to working to mitigate the
impact and spread of the HIV epidemic in partnership with the government
of Tanzania.
Speaking on behalf of Jhpiego Tanzania’s
Country Director, Sauti Project Deputy Chief of Party, Dr Albert Komba,
said that Sauti-supported “Besti Jiongeze Twende Tukapime’’ campaign
will be providing a highly quality integrated package of community-based
biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions, which also
includes family planning, sexual risk reduction counselling and
screening for Tuberculosis (TB), gender based violence, alcohol and drug
abuse.
“Individuals who are HIV-positive and
recent survivors of gender based violence under this project will
receive peer-escorted referrals to care and treatment services”, he
said.
SAUTI is a five-year (2015-2020) United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project
implemented by Jhpiego -- an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, in
partnership with EngenderHealth, Pact and the National Institute for
Medical Research (NIMR)-Mwanza.
And it works with the Ministry of
Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and children to support
the community based HIV prevention in the said 11 regions with the aim
to contribute to the improved health status for all Tanzanians through a
sustained reduction in new HIV infections across the country.
SAUTI it also supporting regional and
district council health management teams in the planning and rolling out
the district-level ‘Besti Jiongeze Twende Tukapime’ health campaign
which is targeting vulnerable adolescent and young women
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