Mara records low HIV transmission rate on voluntary circumcision

Mara Region has recorded a significant decrease of HIV transmission for the past five years.

Infection rate in the region has dropped from seven percent to 3.5 percent, thanks to voluntary circumcision.

HIV/AID coordinator at Musoma Municipal Council, Dr Magreth Shaku revealed this when speaking to The Citizen during a media tour to celebrate 20 years of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) initiative was cited as the main reason for the improvement.

“The statistics come from this year’s census report. As we speak, the rate is continuing to decrease. Through team work between the government and health stakeholders, we are in a position to continue with the good records as we move foward,” says Dr Shaku.

She acknowledged the strong commitment by the government in partnership with Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Amref Tanzania in making a treatment strategy to for people living with HIV/Aids a success by 2030.

The US CDC director, Dr Mahesh said Tanzania is a good country to invest as it respond positive through its government effort on PEPFAR.

“Majority of health workers we trained had skills already. We only added more skills and training and support them on how they can reach communities living in areas where health services are limited,” says Dr Swaminathan.

Dr Peter Sewa from Amref Tanzania said VMMC reduces dangers of HIV transmission by 60 percent. He said, Mara Region has been benefiting from different services including VMMC, PMTCT, HIV care and treatment.

“It was not easy when we started as we are aware that some parts of Mara Region still hold their tradition of circumcising men traditionally. The practice which comes along with lots of dangers in terms of spreading new HIV infections,” says Dr Sewa.

He said through a five years project called Afya Kamilifu which ends this September, Amref has been able to train medical staff at different health facilities and empower them with best skills on how to reach out to the community and talk about VMMC.