Tanzania set to amend laws to allow HIV self-testing

DAR ES SALAAM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania plans to review relevant laws to allow for HIV self-testing and enable persons undergoing the testing to interpret diagnostic results in private, a senior official said on Thursday.

The new system aims to help reduce challenges in the current form of testing whereby many people fear going public, the Minister for Health, Ummy Mwalimu, told parliament in the capital Dodoma.

Mwalimu said the ministry has written to the Attorney General, recommending that the laws be reviewed to allow self-testing since the laws do not currently allow that.

"As we move to the new way of testing for HIV, my office has written to the AG's office for the amendment of the law to allow self-testing which is likely to have very big impact in the country," she told the House.

Mwalimu said the government will soon launch a public drive for men to voluntarily go for HIV testing, saying that people should not fear testing since HIV/AIDS is no longer a "death sentence" because once found positive, a person can live longer while on drugs.

According to statistics by the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), Tanzania has an estimated 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS, but only 52 percent of them are aware of their condition.

The disease has mostly affected the youth aged between 14 and 25 years, according to the ACAIDS. Enditem