Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Social Context Of Disclosing Hiv Test Results In Tanzania, Joe Lugalla, Stanley Yoder, Huruma Sigala, Charles Madihi

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

This study sought to understand how individuals reveal their HIV test results to others and the ways in which social relations affect the disclosure process. The data were collected through open-ended interviews administered in Swahili to informants who had just been tested for HIV and to those who were living with HIV in Dar es Salaam and Iringa regions. Analysis shows that social relations influence the decisions individuals make about disclosure. Most people preferred to reveal their HIV status to close family members. Most also mentioned the fear of being rejected and discriminated against as major reasons for not disclosing …

Deceptive Cultural Practices That Sabotage Hiv/Aids Education In Tanzania And Kenya, Mary Oluga, Susan Kiragu, Mussa K. Mohamed, Shelina Walli

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

In spite of numerous HIV/AIDS‐prevention education efforts, the HIV infection rates in Sub‐Saharan Africa remain high. Exploring and understanding the reasons behind these infection rates is imperative in a bid to offer life skills and moral education that address the root causes of the pandemic. In a recent study concerning effective HIV/AIDS‐prevention education, conducted in Tanzania and Kenya among teacher trainees and their tutors, the notion of mila potofu (defined by educators as ‘deceptive’ cultural practices) emerged as a key reason for educators’ difficulties in teaching HIV/AIDS prevention education in schools and for high HIV infection rates. Since these cultural …

Male Condom Use In Tanzania: Results From A National Survey, Joe Lugalla, Saidi Kapinga

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Objective: To determine factors associated with male condom use in Tanzania.

Methods: Data from the 1996 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) was used.

In this survey, a national representative sample of sexually active men (N= 1898) and women (N=7027) were interviewed to obtain information about potential predictors of sexual practices and condom use.

Results: Two hundred and ninety (4.1%) women and 288 (15.2%) men had used condoms during their last sexual encounter. Men aged 20-24 years and women aged 15-19 years reported the highest rate of condom use. In both men and women, condom use increased with increasing level …

Communicating About Aids-Changes In Understanding And Coping With Help Of Language In Urban Kagera, Tanzania, Aldin Mutembei, Maria Emmelin, Joe Lugalla, Lars Dahlgren

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Faced with the problems of HIV/AIDS, people have to find ways to communicate around them. The aim of this paper is to mirror changes over time in the Kagera people's social cognition regarding HIV/AIDS, using their own language as a tracer of this process. Focus group discussions and personal and group interviews conducted during 1992 to 1995 in urban Bukoba, Kagera, constitute the basis for an analysis of metaphorical expressions in use since 1985. Pronounced uncertainty is later transformed into a deeper understanding of the pandemic and an increased disposition to cope with the situation. Knowledge about the socio-linguistic expressions …