TOMRIC News Agency (Dar es Salaam)
Joachim Mwalongo
14 March 2001
Dar Es Salaam — About 60 percent of youths from secondary schools and out of schools boys and girls aged 15-19 who screened their blood in Dar Es Salaam, were HIV positive.
Blood screening involved students from over 12 secondary schools in Dar Es Salaam and a sizeable number of out of schools teenagers aged 15 and 19 years. Disclosing the information in Dar Es Salaam yesterday, a city-based Dr. Rosemary Mwakitwange said the HIV problem has been compounded by the fact that more than 75 percent of those who engage in sex did not use condoms.
"The situation is alarming as the youth continue to be vulnerable to the deadly disease as the youth make about 50 percent of all infected population in our continent (Africa)," she explained.
She explained further that students and pupils in many schools were affected with HIV/AIDS and in Dar Es Salaam the situation was rather worse. She said in the past two years, new cases had been on the rise, with girls being infected five times more than boys had. Called a workshop for government departments and NGO representatives on HIV, the function was also attended by the Executive Director of population Services International, Tanzania Chapter, Brad Lucas.
Over 50 percent of primary school pupils, mainly standard six and five in Morogoro Region eastern Tanzania are already sexually active, researchers say.
Based on the statistics released in the region by a team of researchers, mainly from the education department and culture as well from the health department in the Ministry of Health, primary school students are at high risk of HIV/AIDS.
The reports reaching the media says that research was conducted in five schools in the Municipality of Morogoro and most of the pupils in those schools declared involvement in sexual affairs, a factor, making researchers conclude that teenagers were at the high risk of being HIV positive in Tanzania.
Reports reveal that pupils in the region were calling for the establishment of HIV related clubs in schools, where the ravages of the disease could be pointed out and discussed via simple games. However, they blame decaying morals in the society as the major reason behind the increasing extra-marital affairs among the youth.
Report on increasingly sexual acts is coming when residents differ on whether it is proper to train teenagers, and primary school pupils in particular, on HIV prevention measures. Sometime last year teenagers as low as 12 years in Tanga Region northern Tanzania had asked stakeholders to manufacture condoms of their size. They said condoms, which were in the market, were too large for them to use.
Two schools of thought have existed on the increase of sexual behavior among the teenagers in Tanzania. Uncontrollable spread of new culture like programs aired by Televisions and the degree of poverty, are frequently mentioned for decaying of moral among the teenagers and spread of HIV/AIDS.
Discrimination of women in the main stream of national income is another factor also mentioned by the experts. According to the World Bank, gender qualities in schooling and urban jobs accelerate the spread of HIV/AIDS.
While women and girls, especially the poor often bear the brunt of gender disparities; gender norms and stereotypes impose costs on males too. The bank also projects that the AIDS epidemic will spread rapidly over the next decade to reach up to one in four women and one in five men become HIV infected, already the case in several countries in sub-Sahara Africa.
Observers say that Tanzania have a long way to go to make people understand the problem of HIV/AIDS. Members to Masasi District in southern Tanzania believe that if one was not sexually active there was a danger of getting health problems.
The consequences of HIV spread in Tanzania are many including increased of orphans. Several NGOs are investing in HIV prevention and support of the orphans.
A Dar Es Salaam-based NGO, Social Action Trust Fund (SATF) has set aside TZS 300 million to cater for education of more than 12,000 orphans in the country this year. The beneficiary orphans spread among 14 regions in Tanzania.
According to Mr. Valentine Rweyemamu, SATF chief executive officer, the number of the supported orphans will rise by over 2,192 compared to 9,808 who received SATF grant last year. In 1999 the organization paid for education of 3,717.
The chief executive says: "Trustees have approved a donation of TZS 300m to AIDS orphans in the year 2001 this is an increase of 50 percent above TZS 200m approved last year." The amount almost tripled to the TZS 100m approved in 1999.
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