HIV - Govt Pledges More Funds. 1/12/10
Need to look for alternative source of funding from other sources including the private sector.
By Lilian Lucas
1 December 2010
Morogoro — The Vice President, Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilali has directed all regions with five percent and above HIV/Aids infection rate to be allocated more money through the Medium term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) so that they could implement strategies to battle the scourge.
Dr Bilal gave the directive yesterday during the commemoration of World Aids Day, which was marked at national level here. He named the regions as Mbeya, Iringa and Dar es Salam saying they need the money because they have already set strategies to fight the disease.
But he said in addition to receiving the money from the government, there was also a need to look for alternative source of funding from other sources including the private sector.
He also reminded regions with less than five infection rate to also chart similar strategies so as to ensure that they contain the spread of the killer virus in their areas. "You should not consider yourselves as safe because you have less than five percent infection rate," he said noting that even those with more than five percent infection rates started with zero.
He also called for dialogue on a number of issues including infection among small girls. He said the dialogue should involve all stakeholders including the government, religious leaders and civil society organisations to name but a few. He said it was alarming as infection rate among girls aged between 15 and 24 years was six times than boys in the same age group.
"This is direct result of gender imbalance," he noted calling for immediate efforts to contain the situation before it gets out of hand. The Vice President also said people in marriages should also start discussing the issue as infection rate among the group was also found to be increasing.
He said research carried out by the Tanzania Commission for Aids (Tacaids) has established a number of groups which were at high risk of contravening the virus. He named the groups as people who shift from one place to another without their families like drivers, workers in mines, tourism, fisheries and those working in road construction.
On the other hand, he said the government would encourage regions to regions to conduct awareness campaigns in a bid to attract more people to check their health status. Meanwhile, the Tacaids chairperson, Dr Fatuma Mrisho, urged religious leaders not to refuse their believers who have been diagnosed HIV positive from using antiretroviral drugs (ARV).
She said religious leaders should do away with preaches that such people would be healed through prayers. Addressing people at the World Aids Day commemorations, Dr Mrisho noted that Aids patients with CD4 levels below 200 are advised to use ARVs so that they could maintain their energy and continue to work.
"There are laments from some relatives of patients that their religious leaders have refused them o go to hospital for treatment on grounds that they will be healed through prayers... this is not fair," she said noting that most of those who were denied access to treatment had died within six months.
Dr Mrisho said the religious leaders could continue with their prayers with the patients continuing using the drugs without any interference. She said religious leaders should also assist in urging their believers who have not been infected to ensure that they stay safe. She warned Tanzanians against becoming complacent following the reports that HIV/Aids infection rate in the country was going down.
The minister for Health, Dr Haji Mponda said the ministry was going to encourage regions to practice circumcision among boys as a way of controlling the infection. He named regions which will be encouraged to do so as Tabora , Kagera, some parts of Mara, Mwanza , Shinyanga, Iringa, Mbeya and Rukwa .
Meanwhile, the Iringa regional hospital has attended 8,450 people living with HIV at its Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) since its establishment in 2004.
Speaking to The Citizen on the sideline of the ceremony to mark the World Aids Day at Mwembetogwa grounds in Iringa municipality, a nursing officer at the regional hospital's CTC, Ms Imelda Ngonyani, said that the number of the people who attend the clinic is low because many people do not want to test in areas where they are well known.
"These people shun away from our clinic because most of them are living in the surrounding areas so they don't want their colleagues to see them receiving treatment," she said.