Comprehensive HIV treatment and prevention program for female IDUs in Tanzania highlighted in Pangaea presentation

Pangaea co-sponsored a satellite session this morning in Vienna entitled, “Gender inequities and HIV among women who inject drugs.”  Pangaea CEO Ben Plumley moderated the session that included a presentation by Megan Dunbar, Pangaea’s VP of Research and Programs, Yovin Ivo Laurent of the Tanzanian Drug Control Commission, and Dr. Doug Bruce, Pangaea's Lead Harm Reduction Consultant.

Pangaea is currently providing technical assistance to the Tanzanian government in the development of a comprehensive HIV treatment and prevention program for injection drug users ( IDUs) in Tanzania and Zanzibar that will result in the first methadone clinics on the African continent starting up in Dar es Salaam later this year.

The presentation today focused on the devastating impact that drug use and HIV are having on women IDUs in Tanzania and how the government is working to meet this difficult challenge.  According to Pangaea’s Dunbar, this session was one of the only programs at this year’s conference highlighting the increased HIV risks faced by women IDUs. 

While IDUs in general have a much greater HIV prevalence rate than the general population (up to five times the infection rate in countries like Tanzania) the situation for women is even worse.  Within the IDU population in Tanzania, the HIV prevalence rate for women IDUs is twice that for men.  Dunbar notes that more research is need to understand why this is so, but points to factors related to gender roles and drug use as likely causes – including women being coerced to use drugs and resorting to sex work to pay for them.

Ivo Laurent of the Tanzanian DCC talked about the urgent need for comprehensive programs addressing HIV and injection drug use in Tanzania, noting that the participants profiled in a well-regarded 2006 documentary about drug use in Tanzania have all died since the feature aired, a stark reminder that the global community and national governments need to act, “Right here, right now.”

The session was co-sponsored by RTI International and European AIDS Treatment Group.