DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) said on Thursday the east African nation has recorded reductions in HIV/AIDS infections from 72,000 in 2013 to 48,000 in 2015.
"Despite the declining infection rates in the country, 40 percent of new infections are the youth aged between 15 and 24," Leonard Maboko, TACAIDS Director General, told the Parliamentary Committee on AIDS in the political capital Dodoma.
"There is a small decline in new HIV/AIDS infections in the country and deaths related to the disease have also been reduced mainly due to use of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs," he added.
Maboko, who was briefing members of the Parliamentary Committee on AIDS responsibilities of the commission and the recently established AIDS Fund, also noted that as at now the situation was not good since the Commission depended entirely on donor funding forcing TACAIDS not to perform its duties properly.
"We depend on donors by 97 percent to fund our activities and the government contribution is merely three percent," said Maboko.
He said the fund will help to improve provision of services like purchase of the ARV drugs which cost a lot of money.
Maboko said HIV/AIDS was just like other diseases that derailed national development, urging the government to put in place strategies aimed at reducing new infections and subsequently eliminating the disease in Tanzania.
