Health partners in Tanzania signed a grant agreement with the Global Fund on January 29, 2018 to work towards the end of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics
Health partners in Tanzania signed a grant agreement with the Global Fund on January 29, 2018 to work towards the end of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics.
The grants of US$525 million will cover an implementation period of 2018-20 and will support Tanzania as one of 13 countries introducing innovative programmes and approaches to find cases of HIV, TB and malaria missed by public health systems.
The grants aim to reduce the average prevalence of malaria in Tanzania to less than 1% by 2020 and reduce the incidence rate of tuberculosis (TB) by 20%.
They will also go towards reducing TB-related deaths by 35% and increasing the coverage of HIV services to achieve the 90-90-90 fast-track treatment targets, where 90% of HIV positive people know their status, 90% of these people are accessing treatment, and 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads.
In addition, the investments will help enrol 400,000 more people on antiretroviral treatment, distribute another 34 million mosquito nets, and ensure 100% of TB patients also diagnosed with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment.
Tuberculosis care and prevention, through case detection and diagnosis, will also be covered by the funds.
Tanzania’s partnership with the Global Fund has already made a significant impact, with death rates from malaria down from 41 deaths per 100,000 people in 2004 to 10 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016, and the number of malaria cases treated without testing decreasing from 36% in 2014 to 5% in 2017.
Furthermore, the national HIV prevalence among people aged 15-49 has dropped from 10% to 4.7% between 1990 and 2016, and TB treatment in Tanzania has maintained a success rate of over 90%.
Tanzania’s Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children Ummy Ally Mwalimu said: “Without the Global Fund and other global health partners, these achievements could not have been attained.
“We commit to ensuring continued efforts to scale up and sustain provision of health services that are good quality, equitable, accessible, affordable, sustainable and gender sensitive.”
Joan Chamungu Msuva, Executive Director of Tanzania Network of Women Living with HIV, added: “Meaningful engagement of civil society organizations is very key in dealing a serious blow to the HIV epidemic in Tanzania.
“As civil society organizations, we were represented from the very beginning of this round of grants. As we move forward, we encourage continued, meaningful and greater involvement of civil society organizations.”
Linden Morrison, Head of the Global Fund’s High Impact Africa II Department, said: “Tanzania is a great example of how global health partners can achieve remarkable impact. By working together, we can end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics in Tanzania by 2030.”
