Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

percent of men reported in the 2003-04 THIS to19 percent of women and men reported in the2007-08 THMIS. These results point to the needto continue encouraging the general populationto find out their sero-prevalence status throughvoluntary counselling and testing (VCT) sitesthroughout the country.HIV testing is far more common among the mosteducated and wealthy respondents. Respondentsin urban areas are more likely than those in ruralareas to have been tested. Regional variations aresubstantial, and differ among women and men.HIV-Related Behaviour. Fourteen percent ofwomen age 20-49 first had sexual intercoursebefore they were 15 and almost six in ten (59percent) had first sex before the age of 18. Meninitiate sexual activity somewhat later thanwomen. Among men age 20-49, only 8 percenthad had sexual intercourse before they were age15, 41 percent before age 18, and 68 percent byage 20. The median age at first sexual intercourseis 17.3 years for women and 18.5 years for men.Women and men in Mainland Tanzania are muchmore likely than those in Zanzibar to have hadsex by age 15 years. Comparison of these resultswith data from the 2003-04 THIS indicates thatthere has been little change in age at sexual debut.Women are far less likely than men to reporthaving had two or more sexual partners in thepast 12 months. Only 3 percent of women reportedhaving had sex with more than one partnerin the 12 months preceding the survey, comparedwith 18 percent of men.In the context of this survey, higher-risk sex isdefined as sex with a nonmarital, noncohabitingpartner in the 12 months preceding the survey.Sixteen percent of women and 29 percent of menreported having sex in the 12 months before thesurvey with someone who was not a husband/wifeor cohabiting partner.Eight percent of men age 15-49 paid for sex inthe 12 months before the survey and 60 percentof these men reported that they used a condom attheir most recent paid sexual intercourse. Amongyoung male respondents age 15-19, 5 percentpaid for sex and more than half (56 percent) useda condom at their last paid sexual intercourse.Six percent of women and 7 percent of men whohad ever had sex reported having an STI or agenital discharge, genital sore, or ulcer in the 12months preceding the survey. This is a slight increasefrom the 2003-04 survey, in which 5 percentof women and 6 percent of men reportedhaving an STI or symptoms of an STI.HIV PREVALENCECoverage of Testing. A total of 17,670 adultsage 15-49 (9,735 women and 7,935 men) wereeligible for HIV testing in the 2007-08 THMIS.Overall, 85 percent (90 percent of eligiblewomen and 80 percent of eligible men) agreed toprovide a blood sample for HIV testing. Coverageof HIV testing in the 2007-08 THMIS ishigher than that in the 2003–04 THIS, increasingfrom 84 to 88 percent for women and from 77 to79 percent for men in Mainland Tanzania.In the 2007-08 survey, 6 percent of Tanzanianadults age 15-49 were infected with HIV. Theprevalence of HIV is higher among women thanmen (7 percent and 5 percent, respectively).These figures are slightly lower than those reportedin the 2003-04 THIS (7 percent overall, 8percent of women and 6 percent of men).For both sexes, urban residents have higher levelsof HIV infection than rural residents (9 and 5percent, respectively). HIV prevalence amongurban women (11 percent) is twice that of ruralwomen (5 percent). For men, the difference isnot so large (6 percent among urban men and 4percent among rural men).There are large variations in HIV prevalence byregion. The highest HIV prevalence rate is foundin Iringa (16 percent), followed by Dar es Salaam(9 percent) and Mbeya (9 percent). Regions onthe Mainland with the lowest HIV prevalence areManyara (2 percent), Arusha (2 percent), andKigoma (2 percent). The lowest prevalence,however, is found in Zanzibar, on the islands ofPemba and Unguja (both with less than 1 percentof adults HIV positive). In all regions exceptArusha, HIV prevalence is higher among womenthan men.Prevalence of HIV increases steadily as the numberof lifetime partners increases. For women,HIV prevalence increases from 3 percent amongthose who have had only one sexual partner to 22percent among women who have had 10 or morelifetime partners. The proportions for men are 1percent and 11 percent, respectively.xviii Summary of Findings