Background on Tanzania

   Tanzania’s total population was 35 million, estimated in 2000, growing by 2.9% per year. It is one of the poorest countries in a desperately poor continent. The country’s average GNP per capita is just $483 a year. Poverty reduction remains a top priority of the Government, but little progress has been made. Poverty reduction efforts are hindered by a heavy debt burden. Tanzania’s external debt rose sharply from $6.8 billion in 1995 to $8.4 billion in 1999.

   HIV/AIDS continues to take its grim toll on the country’s youthful population. Close to 15% of Tanzania’s reproductive age population (15-49) are HIV positive, while 60% of new infections are in the 15-25 age group. AIDS is the leading cause of mortality among adults aged 15-59. Infected persons now occupy more than half of all available hospital beds and the costs of treating AIDS cases could easily consume half of the country’s health budget.

   According to the National AIDS Control Programme, between 70,000 and 80,000 babies are infected with HIV at birth every year. As in Botswana, the AIDS health crisis has reduced life expectancy from 50 to 47 years at birth. HIV prevalence in the total reproductive age population is now 15% and increasing.

   The country’s total fertility rate has declined from 5.8 children per woman in 1996 to 5.6 today. Most health experts link this to the AIDS crisis, not conscious decisions about the desired size of families.

   Maternal and infant mortality rates also remain high. According to the 1996 Demographic and Health Survey, 529 women died on average for every 100,000 live births. No studies have been conducted since 1996, but health authorities think this rate has risen, due mainly to a lack of reproductive health care in the countryside. In 2000, infant mortality was estimated at 82 deaths per 1,000 live births – essentially one in ten infants does not live to see his or her first birthday.

   Although gross school enrollment figures indicate that 77% of eligible children are attending school, the actual percentage is closer to 56%. The Government’s target of 85% attendance by 2002 is regarded as overly ambitious.

   According to the UNDP Human Development Index, Tanzania ranked 156 out of 174 in the 1999 survey. Since the survey ranks countries in descending order of quality of life indicators, this puts Tanzania near the bottom of the index.


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