AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Tanzania Youth Report

Education and Empowerment needed to Reduce Risky Behaviour among Tanzanian Youth

By: Bloom S, Ukwuani F, Finn T & Singh K

This MEASURE report examines the general trends in adolescent HIV knowledge, sexual behaviour and condom use in Tanzania during the 1990s. The report specifically considers awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes toward HIV/AIDS, some aspects of sexual behaviour and the relationship between knowledge and behaviour. Findings show that decline in media coverage and high school drop-out rates have reduced young people’s contact with important health promotion information regarding HIV/AIDS. Moreover, by 1999, 20 percent of young men and over 25 percent of young women could not correctly identify one accurate way of preventing HIV infection.

The authors conclude that there is an ongoing need for efforts to educate young people about how to protect themselves and their partners from AIDS. These programmes should incorporate an awareness that healthy looking partners may not be disease free and encourage an increase in condom use across the country. The authors also highlight the mismatch between knowledge and behaviour and recommend that programmes which focus on empowerment of youth, particularly women, would be helpful in enabling youth to translate their knowledge into behaviour. Finally, the authors stress the need for more research to understand the best methods of protecting young women and men from HIV/AIDS.

MEASURE also produced several other reports entitled AIDS in Africa During the Nineties:

• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties Uganda: Young people, sex, and AIDS in Uganda, 2004
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties Malawi: A review and analysis of surveys, 2004
• AIDS in Africa during the Nineties: Kenya. A review and analysis of survey and research results, 2004
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Young People in Kenya, 2003
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Ghana, 2003
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Uganda, 2003
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Zimbabwe, 2002
• AIDS in Africa During the Nineties: Tanzania, 2001