Tanzania HIV impact survey has been completed - govt

This is the second PHIA survey in Tanzania to measure HIV incidence, HIV prevalence, and viral load of communities across the country as the first one was conducted in 2016/17.

Briefing journalists here yesterday, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), Jenista Mhagama said the trend shows reduced cases of new HIV/Aids infections in the country.

While insisting that more details in the survey launched in November, 2022 in Mwanza will be made public in December, she urged members of the public to rightfully use the data once released.

Mhagama added that the results from THIS 2022-2023 will help to inform key stakeholders about Tanzania’s progress in reaching the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets.

“ The survey findings, which will be released to the public soon, will include data on the percentage of people living with HIV, the number of new HIV infections occurring each year, and the percentage of HIV+ people with viral load suppression, while assessing differentiation by age, sex, and geographic area.” said the minister.

According to the minister, data collection for THIS 2022-2023, which began in November 2022 in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, was completed in just a few months.

THIS 2022-2023 has been made possible by financial support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and technical assistance through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ICAP at Columbia University.

The survey is led by the government through the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), Zanzibar AIDS Commission (ZAC), the Ministries of Health (MoH) of mainland and Zanzibar, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Office of Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG).

The survey was being implemented by NBS, OCGS, and ICAP in collaboration with local partners, including the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), the Zanzibar Institute of Health Research (ZAHRI), public health laboratories, the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), and the Zanzibar Integrated HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and leprosy programme (ZIHHTLP).