HIV/AIDS Fast Track Targets - Efforts to Address the 90% Among Men in Tanzania

Introduction: Efforts to address gender gaps in HIV response have met challenges-Tanzania is no exception. Tanzania launched a catch-up campaign in 2018 to mobilize men to know their HIV status and enroll in care and treatment. The effects of efforts on men’s HIV care-seeking behavior in-country are yet to be formally evaluated.

Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from Amref supported HIV clinics in Tanga and Zanzibar. All patients aged 18+ enrolled into CTC services and started ART from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2019 were included in the analysis looking at trends in enrolment, retention to care, and viral load suppression. Descriptive analysis using frequency tabulations and bivariate analysis was done for all variables. Regression analysis was performed to measure the association between the exposure and outcome variables that showed a significant p-value of <0.1.

Results: A total of 5,251(29.96%) men were included in the analysis out of 17,528 clients. The proportion of males that were started on ART in Tanga increased by 1.59% every year with a cumulative increase of 6.85% (P<0.0001) from 2016-2019. The number of clients started on ART within two weeks reached 92.88% among men and 92.97% in women by 2019(2 folds increase from 2016). There was no significant difference in the viral load non-suppression between men and women 4.51% (95% CI: 3.98 – 5.11) versus 4.28% (95% CI: 3.94 – 4.66) respectively.

Conclusions: Male enrolment into HIV care increased by 1.6% per year for the past four years, which is twice compared to females.