Three years of HIV/AIDS care and treatment services in Tanzania: achievements and challenges

The Tanzania HIV Care and Treatment Plan was launched in October 2004 aiming at providing 440,000 AIDS patients with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and track disease progression in 1.2 million HIV+ persons by the end of the 2008. This paper is intended to provide information to stake holders of the achievements and challenges of the HIV Care and Treatment Plan since its inception in 2004. Facility patient reports are aggregated at district and then regional level before being sent to the national level where they are aggregated to form a national report. By December 2007, 210 health facilities were offering HIV care and treatment services in Tanzania. About 123,147 (5 %) of the 2,636,785 estimated people living with HIV and AIDS were enrolled, and 71,439 (13.6 %) of the estimated 527,357 AIDS cases commenced ART. More females than males started ART, F: M ratio being 3: 2. Most (49 %) patients were started ART due to low CD4 counts (