President Dk. Jakaya Kikwete
The Honourable and Mrs. George Walker Bush;
President Bill Clinton (who has joined us today from Washington D.C
via Satellite Link;
Distinguished Guests Who are Here in Dar es Salaam and
Washington D.C.;
Ladies and gentlemen:
FOUR years ago during your historical state visit to Tanzania you had an opportunity to visit the Amana Hospital where you were able to see how the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme was making progress towards saving lives of Tanzanian men, women and children infected with HIV/AIDS. Today we are here at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute to give momentum to the good work you are now pioneering in the fight against breast and cervical cancers.
Mr. President;
Your visit today coincides with the commemoration of the World AIDS day. I am pleased that, using modern technology we are joined, in Washington D.C. by President Bill Clinton, senior US Administration officials, Members of Congress as well as leaders from the AIDS community and the media, to share thoughts about the fight against this deadly disease.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It was in 1983 when HIV/AIDS was first known to exist in Tanzania. Three people were then diagnosed to be infected with the disease in Kagera region on the Western shores of Lake Victoria bordering Uganda. Since then, the disease has spread like a bushfire in the harmattan winds to every corner of our country. Today, it is estimated that 1.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and in last year alone 86,000 people have died of HIV/AIDS complications. There are over two million orphans from HIV/AIDS related deaths of their parents.
Thirty years ago, for someone to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS was like death sentence being handed to him or her. Also, being HIV positive was the cause for those infected, their spouses and children to be shunned or even isolated by their family members and society because of stigma and fear associated with the disease. Thanks to the advancement in medical science, research and technology, now the disease is no longer what it was or was being perceived to be then. These days, many lives can and have actually been and continue to be saved through care and treatment.
With the availability of ARVs many infected people can live a normal life as long as they observe doctors’ advice. In the same vein, infected pregnant women can deliver and bring up healthy and HIV free babies. Due to increased advocacy and education, there is increased awareness and understanding of the disease as well as prevention initiatives by the people of Tanzania. As a result of these developments and measures, Tanzania has been registering steady progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Indeed, thousands of Tanzanians who would have died of the disease are still alive today. Infection rates have declined from 18 percent in the 1990s to 5.7 percent today. As I speak, over 13 million Tanzanians have counseled and tested for HIV since July, 2007 when my wife and I launched the nationwide campaign for voluntary counseling and testing. Stigma has gone down as more and more people don’t hide to volunteer for counseling and testing and talking about their status.
Those infected can now get the requisite care and treatment. By December 2010, about 740,040 people living with HIV were enrolled in care and treatment clinics out of whom 384,816 are on antiretroviral therapy (ART). So far we have achieved 87.5 percent of the target we set ourselves for delivery of care and treatment.
Currently, also there are 4,301 health facilities providing Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services. This is equivalent to 93 percent of health facilities in Tanzania. So far, in 2010, a total of 80,748 (70 percent) HIV infected pregnant women received care and treatment. Likewise 65,948 (57 percent) children born to HIV infected mothers received medicines to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. I am not very happy with this performance. We need to do more work.
Mr. President;
For us in Tanzania, whenever we talk about the successes we have made in the fight against HIV/AIDS we cannot fail to recognize and acknowledge the invaluable support we have received and continue to receive from the people and government of the United States of America. Allow me to mention in particular the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief which you initiated and being continued even more vigorously by your successor H.E. President Barrack Obama. The Clinton Fund has been assisting us with innovative interventions for HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment for children. Abbott Fund has been assisting us with the renovation and upgrading of laboratories in our regional hospitals which has enhanced diagnostic capacity for HIV/AIDS and other disease. The Elizabeth Glacer Pediatric AIDS Foundation has been assisting us with equipping district and regional hospitals with CD4 counting machines. We also have FHI, John Hopkins University and other who for the brevity of time I have not mentioned. I ask them to accept my sincere apologies but we very much appreciate and value their support. But, I would like to underscore the fact that we need continued support as you have seen from the statistics that there are still gaps, some huge ones to close.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I would like to assure you that, Tanzania is committed and stands ready to play our part, to the best of our ability to attain the targets set by the UN for 2015. These include:
· To reduce by half the sexual transmission of HIV.
· To provide treatment to 13 million people worldwide.
· To eliminate mother-to-child transmission.
· To cut by half and eventually eliminate the number of tuberculosis deaths among people living with HIV; And;
· To support children orphaned and affected by AIDS to stay in school and receive social protection.
I am pleased that we in Tanzania have made steady progress in all these objectives although we are still grappling with the resource constraint. We are committed to do our best in this regard.
Mr. President,
Meeting those challenges is a responsibility of everyone, governments, foundations, NGOs, persons of goodwill as well as the corporate sector.
I applaud your continued commitment and efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The targets set by the One Campaign are very inspiring, indeed. I have no doubt that you will pursue them to their logical conclusion. I promise you my personal as well as my governments’ cooperation in your efforts.
With people of goodwill like you Mr. President, I believe, together we shall fight and win the war against HIV/AIDS and achieve our target of HIV free generation in half a decade.
I thank you for listening.