Social factors contributing to the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Songea district

The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania and in many other countries has posed a vast challenge to the efforts aimed at controlling the epidemic. So far most strategies based on "prevention" as the only realistic and immediate approach to the control of the disease have not yet made the break through. Educating people to act against factors/ activities or behaviors’ that predispose them to the HIV-infection forms important component to preventive approach. In Tanzania, education campaigns and strategies have been and are still underway in the struggle against AIDS. However, it is widely acknowledged that, such strategies and efforts have failed to generate adequate or consistent pressure on behavioral change. Moreover it has been observed that there is no reliable evidence that there is a direct proportionality between education and change of behavior. Therefore the control of the spread of HIV/AIDS is unfortunately no nearer than it was when the epidemic was first identified as the rate is apparently increasing by leaps and bounds. This account provides a framework to investigate factors that lead to the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in one of the assumed low prevalence areas i.e. Ruvuma region despite its initial slow rate. The study was conducted in Madaba and Liganga village both located in Songea district. It was evident from the study that HIV/AIDS is merely a symptom of a deeply seated problem in society. The problem is explained as a function of structured poverty in conjunction with social-cultural forces. The future of threats like HIV/AIDS is projected as the enabling factors continue to lay ground for ill health.