Version 01(Public use file for web dissemination)

2005-03

This report presents the major findings of the 2003-04 Tanzania HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (THIS). The Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) authorised the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to conduct the THIS. The THIS is the first household survey of its kind to be conducted in Tanzania. The survey covered the Tanzania Mainland only.

The main objective of the survey was to provide HIV/AIDS programme managers and policymakers with information needed to guide planning and implementation of interventions, including resource mobilisation and allocation, monitoring and evaluation of existing programmes, and designing new and effective strategies for combating the epidemic

The 2003-04 Tanzania HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (THIS) is the first population-based, comprehensive survey on HIV/AIDS to be carried out in Tanzania. The survey was initiated by the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) with the purpose of getting national baseline data on the prevalence of HIV infection. The survey was not meant to replace the sentinel surveillance system undertaken by the Ministry of Health under its National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), but rather to form a basis for monitoring the national HIV/AIDS response.

The THIS was executed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with TACAIDS and NACP from early December 2003 to the end of March 2004. Technical assistance was provided through the MEASURE DHS programme, a project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to collect, analyse, and disseminate population and health data. Financial support for carrying out the survey was provided by USAID/Tanzania and the Embassy of Ireland.

The survey obtained information on knowledge/awareness, attitudes, and behaviour regarding HIV/AIDS. The overall goal of the survey was to provide programme managers and policymakers involved in HIV/AIDS programmes with information needed to effectively plan and implement future interventions, including resource mobilisation and allocation.

More specifically, the objectives of the 2003-04 THIS were:

• To measure HIV prevalence among women and men aged 15-49;

• To assess levels and trends in knowledge about HIV/AIDS, attitudes towards those infected with the disease, and sexual behavioral practices;

• To collect information on the proportion of adults who are chronically sick, the extent of orphanhood, and care and support levels;

• To gauge the extent to which these indicators vary by characteristics of the individual such as age, sex, region, education, marital status and poverty status.

The 2003-04 THIS information is intended to provide data to assist policymakers and programme implementers to monitor and evaluate existing programmes and to design new strategies for combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. The survey data will also be used to make population projections and to calculate indicators developed by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), the UNAIDS Programme, and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Questions on non-income proxy indicators were also added to measure indicators developed for the Tanzania Poverty Monitoring Master Plan (United Republic of Tanzania, 2001).

Sample survey data [ssd]

Household and Individual