Tanzania: LEAHN CFP Inspector Kirungu determined to help scale up harm reduction in 2017

LEAHN Country Focal Point in Tanzania, Inspector Abdallah Kirungu, is determined to see harm reduction approaches to HIV/AIDS scaled up in 2017.

There are approximately 300,000 people who inject drugs in the country with about one third having HIV or viral hepatitis. Drug users are regularly arrested by police resulting in people at risk of blood borne viruses avoiding the already limited health services available for fear of being targeted by police.

 Inspector Kirungu met with the General Coordinator for Medicine du Monde (MdM) Ms Mireia Aguire Soriano in Dar es Salaam to discuss how police can support the health promotion efforts of the agency.

Inspector Kirungu also met with UNAIDS Country Director Dr Warren Naamara Country Director to share ideas about how to tackle the three pillars of the harm minimisation model (supply, demand and harm reduction). Tanzania is a popular transit country for smuggling drugs onto the African continent and the role of police in detecting drug trafficking was highlighted in the meeting whilst people who were addicted or used drugs must be supported and given access to medical treatment.

Inspector Kirungu and Dr Naamara will work with other stakeholders and the media to seek more government support for HIV and Hepatitis prevention services.

HIV is estimated to have infected 1.4 million people in Tanzania, a prevalence rate of 4.7% although some regions are affected more than others. In November 2016, the Minister for Health announced that U.S. PEPFAR funding for HIV prevention services for male-to-male sex would be suspended, pending a review. It is estimated that 30% of men who have sex with men are HIV positive. The review will address whether HIV prevention services are ‘promoting homosexuality’ – homosexuality is a crime in Tanzania. The Washington Post reports that in 2016, police raided the offices of two US funded health services and seized patient records. An act likely to deter others from getting HIV testing and treatment.