The Tanzanian prime minister has announced that the country's national HIV/AIDS infection rate had dropped to 5.8 percent in 2007, down from 7.0 percent in 2003.
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda confirmed the trend to local media by citing statistics compiled by the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics and the office of the Chief Statistician in Zanzibar.
The infection rate of women has dropped from 8.0 percent in 2003 to 6.8 percent in 2007 while the infection rate among men also plunged from 7.0 percent in 2003 to 4.7 percent in 2007.
The prime minister hailed the anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in Zanzibar as the infection rate in the Indian Ocean archipelago had dropped to 0.6 percent.
Over 2.3 million women and 1.8 million men from across the country have taken part in the voluntary blood screening campaign which kicked off in July last year. The campaign was led by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
Tanzania now has a population of over 40 million.
Of the total number of people screened, 194,149 were tested positive for the HIV virus, according to Dr. Geoffrey Somi from the Tanzanian National AIDS Control Program.
Source: Xinhua
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