HIV/AIDS Prevalence Increasing in Zanzibar

UN experts believe HIV/AIDS prevalence in Zanzibar is on a steady increase, and they are worried that currently available data could be underestimating the actual magnitude of the pandemic in the semi-autonomous islands. Dr. Fath Alloba, the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) specialist on HIV/AIDS in Zanzibar, said Thursday that Zanzibar was lagging far behind other countries in the region in developing "concrete strategic" data on HIV prevalence, a factor that is impeding concerted efforts in the overall fight against HIV/AIDS.

Officials report an HIV prevalence of 2 percent, said Alloba. Yet data collected recently at four voluntary testing centers show that up to 13.7 percent of those tested were infected. Alloba also said he had been treating an increasing number of STDs, which are usually linked with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. "As clinicians, we feel there is a real increase in HIV cases," he said. Current official figures could, however, change dramatically after a survey to be carried out in June, according to Hilde Basstanie, the UNAIDS country program advisor for Tanzania.

The study, to be conducted by the WHO in collaboration with Zanzibari authorities and other UN agencies, will provide the Tanzanian government with the technical support needed to put in place HIV surveillance and standardized data collecting systems, according to Basstanie. Several UN agencies are also planning to launch a joint program on HIV/AIDS for Zanzibar between 2002 and 2006.

Although basic knowledge about HIV/AIDS has increased and become generally high in Zanzibar, most locals lack adequate support to help them make informed choices on sexual practices, according to UNICEF. While most people -- 94.1 percent of women and 97.6 percent of men -- knew about HIV and condoms as a key method of protection against its transmission, social acceptability was limited, with less than half stating that it was acceptable for a woman to ask a man to use a condom, said a 2001 UNICEF report. "Only .1 percent of women and 5.2 percent of men in Zanzibar have ever used condoms to avoid [STDs]," the report said.

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