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

ATTITUDES RELATING TO HIV/AIDS 66.1 ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDSWidespread stigma and discrimination in a population can adversely affect both people’swillingness to be tested for HIV and their adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Reduction of stigma anddiscrimination in a population is thus an important indicator of the success of programmes targetingHIV and AIDS prevention and control.As stated in the National Policy on HIV/AIDS, stigma is one of the key challenges in theprevention and control of the epidemic. People living with HIV/AIDS face discrimination and aresometimes neglected because of hostile attitudes. More importantly, stigma leads to secrecy anddenial, which hinder people from seeking counselling and testing for HIV, crucial first steps infighting the epidemic (Prime Minister’s Office, 2001).To assess the level of stigma, THMIS respondents who had heard of AIDS were asked severalquestions related to their attitudes towards people infected by HIV/AIDS. They were asked if theywould be willing to care for a sick relative with AIDS in their own household, if they would bewilling to buy fresh vegetables from a market vendor who has AIDS, if they thought a female teacherwho has HIV but is not sick should be allowed to continue teaching, and if they would want to keep afamily member’s HIV status secret.Results in Tables 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 show that 90 percent of women and men are willing to carefor a family member with the AIDS virus in homes and 75 percent of respondents believe that afemale teacher with the AIDS virus who is not sick should be allowed to continue teaching. However,only 57 percent of women and 65 percent of men express a willingness to buy fresh vegetables from ashopkeeper who has the AIDS virus and less than half of women and 59 percent of men say that if afamily member got infected with the AIDS virus, they would not feel it necessary to keep it a secret.A composite indicator combining all four of these attitudes is shown in the second-to-lastcolumn of Tables 6.1.1 and 6.1.2. The data show that stigma and discrimination are still widespreadamong Tanzanian adults because only about one in four women and one in three men interviewedexpressed positive attitudes on all four indicators. This level is almost the same as that observed in the2003-04 THIS, and slightly higher than the level observed in the 2004 TDHS, though there are slightdifferences in wording between the surveys. In all three surveys, women are less positive than men inacceptance of all four attitude indicators.Adults in urban areas are more likely than rural adults to have positive attitudes towardspeople with HIV/AIDS. For example, the proportion of women who express accepting attitudes on allfour indicators was 37 percent in urban areas and 23 percent in rural areas; among men, thecomparable figures are 50 percent in urban areas and 30 percent in rural areas. Zonal variationsindicate that women in Zanzibar exhibit the highest level of acceptance on all four attitudinalmeasures (34 percent), compared with other zones in Mainland Tanzania, while men in Eastern Zoneare found to have the highest acceptance (46 percent). The lowest acceptance is found among womenand men in Central and Western zones.Differentials across regions are marked. Regions with low levels of acceptance on all fourindicators include Dodoma, Mtwara, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, and Tanga for women, and Tabora,Tanga, Shinyanga, and Singida for men. Only about one in five adults in these regions have acceptingattitudes on all four indicators. On the positive side, women and men in Arusha (42 and 48 percent,respectively) and men in Dar es Salaam (56 percent) are more likely than those in other regions toexpress accepting attitudes on all four indicators.Attitudes Relating to HIV/AIDS | 65