Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Tanzania

Better youth AIDS programmes needed

    JOHANNESBURG

    Changes in Tanzania's perception of the youth are needed to tackle HIV/AIDS, an official of the NGO Africa Medical and Relief Foundation (AMREF) has said.

    Michael Mochaku, an adolescent sexual and reproductive health specialist, said existing HIV/AIDS programmes for adolescents were just "routine".

    "We need to change the mentality of seeing youth [people aged between 10 and 24] as children. Instead of providing the youth with the information they have a right to, we have been blaming them for their health problems," Mochaku told the UN news service PlusNews.

    He said despite the positive change in attitudes towards the youth in recent years, access to HIV/AIDS information was limited to only 15 percent of those living in rural areas.

    Mochaku urged the government and international organisations to step up efforts to reach young adults in remote areas.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join