CDC in Tanzania

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked with the United Republic of Tanzania and more than 60 partner organizations since 2001 to address HIV, malaria, and other health threats by providing technical and financial assistance supporting service delivery, by strengthening health systems and infrastructure, and by utilizing strategic information. CDC supports HIV care and treatment, HIV counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) services, laboratories, research, development of the National Blood Transfusion Services, and activities that target key populations most at risk for HIV.

HIV Prevention, Testing, and Counseling

CDC supports HIV testing and counseling in 2,688 facilities in Tanzania. Since 2010 more than 3.2 million persons have been counseled and tested for HIV. In addition, CDC supports other biomedical prevention activities, which have resulted in more than 65,280 boys and men being circumcised to prevent new infection. CDC was also instrumental in the launch of East Africa’s only medication-assisted treatment program, which provides effective treatment for opioid dependence to people who inject drugs. To increase blood collection in Tanzania, CDC works closely with the National Blood Transfusion Services helping to ensure a safe, sufficient blood supply. This partnership led to the renovation of seven blood transfusion sites, and blood collection has increased from 5,000 units in 2005 to more than 100,000 units in 2011.

HIV Care and Treatment

CDC supports the provision of free antiretroviral therapy (ART) and HIV care and treatment services nationally. Currently 171,467 people in Tanzania receive ART, which can help people live with HIV and dramatically prolong their lives. CDC works closely with the national TB and leprosy program to integrate TB and HIV programs through HIV testing in TB clinics and through routine screening and treatment of TB among people living with HIV/AIDS. The CDC care and treatment team also works to maintain the highest quality of services through the renovation of clinics and training of healthcare workers.

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT)

CDC supports PMTCT services in 1,570 health facilities and links clients with onsite pediatric HIV programs or refers them to other facilities that provide the required healthcare services. With support from CDC, from 2010 to March 2012, more than 33,126 HIV-positive pregnant women received prophylaxis
to reduce transmission to their babies.

Malaria

As part of the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and with significant collaboration with the National Malaria Control Program and the Zanzibar Malaria Control Program, CDC began effective malaria programs with an emphasis on prevention, treatment, surveillance, and human capacity development. PMI distributed more than 650,000 bed nets, sprayed more than 1 million households, and distributed more than 750,000 test kits. PMI also offered intermittent preventive treatment to pregnant women. A single dose of a malaria preventive drug in the second and third trimesters helps protect pregnant woman and their unborn children. In addition, the program offers training to health care providers on how to incorporate malaria prevention strategies into prenatal care.

Laboratory Support

CDC supports strengthening laboratory infrastructure and building capacity of laboratorians for HIV diagnosis, disease staging, therapeutic monitoring, and quality assurance. With CDC assistance, more than 700 facilities with laboratory services have been strengthened, and 18 of those facilities have completed a training and mentorship program towards accreditation. CDC also helped to launch the Lab Logistics System, which provides critical data on laboratory consumption to assist with tracking, managing, and resupplying laboratory materials.

Strategic Information

CDC supports the use of quality data to assist with program planning, analysis, and allocation of resources. The strategic information team ensures all CDC investments in routine data collection, surveys, surveillance, vital registration of births/deaths, and research are aligned and integrated with those of the government of Tanzania for ensured sustainability. Since 2009 CDC has supported the successful launch of a unified system to balance monitoring and evaluation efforts. It has also implemented critical surveillance studies to identify causes of the HIV epidemic.

Human and Institutional Capacity Building (HICB) Program

CDC partners with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to build the human and institutional capacity of the healthcare sector to manage and implement delivery of HIV/AIDS services and to effectively respond to general public health needs. This program offers specialized trainings for monitoring and evaluation, epidemiology, laboratory, research, and healthcare leadership and management. To address the huge shortage of service providers, the team presents both in-service and pre-service trainings to improve quality and increase production of healthcare workers. CDC’s comprehensive approach for systems strengthening ensures that all healthcare systems are being strengthened to build a platform for sustainability while continuing to address the effects of HIV. HICB also supports the Tanzania Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, which was established in 2008 and is designed to strengthen public health systems and infrastructure while building the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

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