- Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10 percent of the world's population,
but is home to more than 60 percent of all HIV/AIDS victims—around
25.8 million people, and growing
- Sub-Saharan Africa has 95% of the world's AIDS orphans
- 1,300,000 – 1,600,000 people live with HIV in
Tanzania
- 6.5% adult HIV rate in Tanzania (ages 15 – 49)
- Estimated
only 1 in 5 HIV cases are reported
- 7% of HIV-infected women and men receiving antiretroviral
therapy
- 710,000 women in Tanzania are HIV+
- 110,000 children in Tanzania are HIV+ (ages 0 - 14)
- 160,000 AIDS deaths occured during 2003 (adults
and children) in Tanzania
- 1,100,000 orphans in Tanzania due to AIDS (age
0 – 17)
- Tanzania is tied with Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe as Africa's
second highest in the number of AIDS orphans; behind South Africa,
leading with 1,200,000
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CHATA ( Combating HIV/ AIDS
in TAnzania)
is focused on the Maasai people; a nomadic, poor and excluded-to-contemporary-ways
people group in the Arusha and Manyara regions of northern Tanzania.
Their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is greater (11.6% of the approximately
two million persons in this region)
compared to the rest of Tanzania, where 6.5% of the adult population
is HIV positive. According to the 2002 Tanzanian Census, the population
of Tanzania is 34,443,603.
VISION: CHATA's
vision is a healthy and safe community for all Tanzanians.
BACKGROUND: CHATA is a non-governmental organization operating
in the Arusha and Manyara regions; was founded in 1998 and registered
in Tanzania under the Civil Society Act, registration number 13204.
MISSION: CHATA has a focus on HIV/AIDS prevention,
care, poverty alleviation, advocacy and support to OVC and
grandparents. CHATA's efforts are well favored in the trend of implementing
activities such as VCCT
services, support to PLWHA,
support to OVCs, and advocacy to
the HIV/AIDS victims.
A higher infection rate among the Maasai exists because strong
cultural beliefs greatly inhibit their access to education and other
social services. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in this region has
worsened due to a lack of proper HIV/AIDS education and care, high
levels of stigma, increased poverty among community members and
their traditional lifestyle of polygamy, wife sharing and long-term
concurrent sexual orientation. The Arusha region is the center
of the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit, with nearby Serengeti
National Park, Ngorongoro
Crater, the Great Rift Valley and other national
parks, furthering the infection rate through travelers. Strongly
attached to their unique culture, the Maasai people play a very
important role in tourist attraction to the Arusha region.
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Other factors limiting assistance to the Maasai people are the
undeveloped infrastructure, difficult terrain and unfriendly weather
conditions. Most health facilities are in town or city centers;
CHATA aims at assisting the more rural communities that are often
neglected. Government corruption can also divert AIDS funds from
reaching the people it's intended for. Due to the above factors,
availability and delivery of health services have been inhibited
resulting in most HIV/AIDS cases going unreported and undocumented;
also increasing the vulnerability to those infected who inevitably
succumb to premature deaths within a short period of contracting
HIV/AIDS.
Long before the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic became apparent,
Tanzanians were a disciplined society where traditional values and
norms were cherished. However, social discipline has been eroded
due to the failure of parents to instill traditional values and
discipline to their children; and the sudden
mushrooming of television programs and other mass media also contributing
negatively to social discipline.
The first cases of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania were reported in 1983,
and has evolved from being a rare and new disease, to an epidemic
that has rapidly spread into rural areas, effecting most Tanzanian
families. UNAIDS
estimated that 1.6 million Tanzanians were living with HIV/AIDS
at the end of 2003; of them, 1.5 million were adults. Women comprised
56 percent of Tanzanian adults with HIV/AIDS. This influences all
sectors of society, involving resources to care for infected individuals,
and the debilitation and depletion of the economically
active population—especially
the youth.
In Tanzania, the transmission of HIV occurs mainly through heterosexual
contact beginning in the early teen years. Generally, females acquire
HIV at an earlier age than males; assuming a similar incubation
period for both sexes (5 to 10 years): females age 25 to 29, and
males age 30 to 34. Nationally, males have a slightly higher case
rate; although the ratio varies greatly per region. Mother-to-child
transmission has been on the increase as more women continue to
become infected, then pregnant.
The need for community awareness and education, as well as provision
of services related to HIV/AIDS prevention is greater among the
Maasai people than in the rest of Tanzania. In this regard, CHATA
has identified the Arusha and Manyara regions as the staging zone
for launching HIV/AIDS interventions, with the view of gradually
expanding to the other Maasai areas in the future; based on the
experience and dynamics attained through this pilot project target
area.
To learn of CHATA's unique cultural approach to stopping HIV/AIDS
among the Maasai people, proceed to THE STRATEGY;
followed by THE ACHIEVEMENTS to learn what we've accomplished so
far. Yes, this site is large; so is the crisis facing Africa from
HIV/AIDS. Therefore we have endeavored to provide a systematic storyboard
of the multi-faceted effects of HIV/AIDS among families, individuals,
children, communities, the social and economic structure, the future,
the varying viewpoints of what is happening regarding the spread
of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the viewpoints of how HIV/AIDS has successfully
been reduced. We also have MAASAI and TANZANIA sections
of this site to better familiarize you with the unique people and
nation our focus is upon.
CAUTION: Due to the sensitive nature of information
at this Web site, if you are under 16, you must ask your parents
or a guardian before you: proceed in reading this Web site, email
this Web site, ask us to email anything to you, or send in any information
to us. By continuing to use this Web site and any of the services
presented through this Web site, you are confirming that you have
received the consent of your parents or guardian.
This Web site contains links to other Internet
sites on the World Wide Web. We provide such links for your convenience,
and are not responsible for the content in any site linked to or
from this Web site. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied
as to the accuracy, legality, reliability or validity of any content
on any other site.
^TOP THE
STRATEGY >
UNAIDS/WHO
AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2005
http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Countries/tanzania.asp
UNAIDS, 2004 Report on
the Global AIDS Epidemic. 2004: Geneva. www.unaids.org
Sub Saharan Africa HIV & AIDS
Statistics. http://www.avert.org/subaadults.htm
2002 Tanzanian National Census http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/census/arusha.htm; http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/census/manyara.htm
http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/
Behavioural Determinants http://www.tanzania.go.tz/hiv_aids.html
http://www.tanzania.go.tz/hiv_aids.html
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