Nurses Are Boosting Tanzania ’s HIV Prevention Efforts in the Lake Zone Regions

November 30, 2017" At last, the nation recognizes nurses can do more than nursing care. ”Today about 1.4 million Tanzanians live with HIV, or 4.7% of adults. The country has been struggling with both a high HIV prevalence rate and a shortage of the health workers they need to tackle this challenge.IntraHealth International has been scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services to help prevent HIV for the past six years in Tanzania, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children; the National AIDS Control Program; and the President ’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government.Male circumcision reduces the risk of female-to-male sexual transmission of HIV by up to 60%. So we ’ve been working together to offer the service in 16 districts in five Lake Zone regions under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How could these busy, remote health centers meet the needs of the millions of Tanzanian men?When we launched this work, we asked ourselves: How can we build sustainable capacity among Tanzania ’s health workers so more of them can provide this life-saving service within the country’s existing health system? The answer, we found, was nurses.Local, Skilled, and PermanentIntraHealth ’s country leader in Tanzania,Dr. Lucy Mphuru (a skilled VMMC surgeon herself), knew that answers would lie with the respective ministr...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news