Tanzania: What We Do
Past Projects
Monitoring & Evaluation | Surveillance
Monitoring & Evaluation
Early HEI Registration
National stakeholders observed that, although most critical PMTCT and EID data are documented in existing national tools and can be captured within the CTC2 database, there were challenges with ensuring complete and timely documentation of PMTCT and EID data.
Known data challenges included ensuring that:
-
All HEI are identified and registered;
-
DBS samples are collected for eligible HEI with results documented promptly;
-
Follow-up visit data are captured until the determination of the outcome; and
-
All data are entered in CTC2 promptly.
UCSF worked with the Ministry of Health to assess these challenges and develop an intervention to respond to them. UCSF then led the rollout of this intervention, which was added to national guidelines nationwide. The intervention was centered on the early registration of all HEI – i.e., within the first seven days of life – at their first vaccination visit. UCSF worked with the MoH to develop an SOP to guide this intervention, as well as job aids and training materials to ensure its implementation with fidelity. Early registration of HEI has increased across the country since the implementation of this activity, and corresponding increases have been observed in the collection of blood samples for early infant diagnosis of HIV.
Findings from this activity will be presented at the IAS 2024 conference.
Mapping of People who Use and People who Inject Drugs in Selected Regions of Tanzania
In 2013 and 2014, UCSF staff provided technical assistance to the Drug Control Commission of Tanzania in planning, implementing, and analyzing data for a mixed-methods assessment to better understand the scope of drug use in Tanzania, to estimate population size, and to map the geographic distribution of people who use and inject drugs along the coast and in other regions of the country. Key stakeholders used findings from this study to target and plan interventions for people who inject drugs.
DREAMS Project
The DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) partnership is a strategic public-private initiative aimed at reducing HIV rates among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in the highest HIV burden countries. Launched on World AIDS Day in 2014, DREAMS began its activities in 2015 through USAID in ten sub-Saharan African countries: Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These countries accounted for nearly half of all new HIV infections among AGYW globally.
DREAMS represents a collaborative effort between PEPFAR, Girl Effect, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
UCSF developed the impact evaluation for the DREAMS Tanzania program. This evaluation employed innovative technology platforms and mixed methods, including a longitudinal cohort, time-location sampling , and qualitative interviews. These methodologies were utilized to assess the intervention's effect and reach, program acceptability within target communities, and fidelity of implementation.
MSc Program, Health Monitoring and Evaluation at Mzumbe University
Our team at the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences (IGHS) and in Tanzania supported the launch of the Master’s of Science in Health Monitoring & Evaluation at Mzumbe University in 2013 and provided significant technical input to the curriculum’s development.
The first cohort of students graduated in December 2015 and additional cohorts continue to enroll, thereby increasing the human resource capacity in M&E within the public sector.
IGHS also supported the launch of the East African Journal of Applied Health Monitoring and Evaluation, which is housed at Mzumbe University’s Centre of Excellence in Health Monitoring and Evaluation. As one measure to ensure the sustainability of the journal, the IGHS faculty mentored Mzumbe University faculty on scientific writing.
Surveillance
Zanzibar Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey (IBBS) 2018 - 2019
GP Tanzania's staff provided technical assistance to the Zanzibar Integrated HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, and Leprosy Programme (ZIHHTLP) in planning and implementing an integrated biological and behavioral surveillance survey (IBBS) in Zanzibar.
The survey was designed to improve understanding of the disease burden and unique service needs among key populations at risk for HIV (men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, and female sex workers), as well as to estimate the sizes of these populations on the island.
Support for this activity began from the protocol development stage and continued through to report writing and dissemination. Results have been the basis for developing and improving programmatic interventions.
Biobehavioral survey among fisherfolk using time-location sampling in Kagera, Tanzania, 2019
UCSF conducted a biobehavioral survey among fisherfolk in the Kagera Region of Tanzania in 2019. The aims of the survey were to measure the prevalence of HIV among fisherfolk in the region, identify the drivers of the epidemic within this population, and assess the use of HIV-related health services.
Time location sampling (TLS) methods, based on the US National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) (CDC, 2019), were used to randomly select 12 beach management units (BMUs) in three districts in Kagera for inclusion in the survey. A BMU is a legal organization of fisherfolk at the beach, including boat crew, boat owners, managers, charterers, fish processors, fishmongers, local gear makers or repairers, and fishing equipment dealers within a fishing landing station/site. Data collection involved both quantitative and qualitative interviews as well as rapid HIV testing.
TISINI
UCSF worked with NASHCoP to conduct a study (known as TISINI) to identify and characterize high-risk populations in areas of high transmission along major transit corridors in Tanzania. The study assessed HIV prevalence and incidence measures, linkage to HIV services, sexual networks, high-risk behaviors, and other drivers of the epidemic.