Tanzania lacks accurate data on HIV prevalence: official

The Tanzanian government has been using "inaccurate" HIV/AIDS data in its efforts to curb the deadly disease, a senior official said on Monday.

Albina Chuwa, Director General of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the current data used to estimate the HIV prevalence in the country was not accurate.

"This means that for the past thirteen years since the first National HIV Indicator Survey was conducted, the government has been relying on inaccurate information," she said at a meeting with the country's HIV/AIDS experts.

She said the current and previous data, only covered people aged between 15 and 49, but excluded children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

"This calls upon the government to rethink of conducting a household-based survey that will clearly demonstrate the magnitude of this pandemic at population level in Tanzania," Chuwa said.

Currently, it is estimated that 5.1 percent of Tanzanians aged between 15 and 49 are HIV-positive.

The HIV prevalence is reported to be higher among women (6.2 percent) than among men (3.8 percent), and higher in urban areas than in rural areas.

However these figures are widely disputed by officials and experts.

Fernandes Morales, a country director with the Columbia-based health organization, ICAP, said a more advanced system of tracking down people living with HIV was highly required at the time when countries across the world were seeking to achieve the ambitious targets of zero-new infections and zero-HIV deaths by the year 2030.

"Without accurate data, it means that our investment in the fight against HIV goes off the track. The current strategy of using more improved technology will serve the purpose," he said.

A new HIV Impact Survey in Tanzania is expected to start in September. Endit