Socio cultural factors influencing HIV transmission among Wagogo tribe at Ibihwa village Bahi district

HIV / AIDS is one of the major public health problems in Tanzania. A community based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to identify socio-cultural factors influencing HIV transmission among Wagogo tribe in Ibihwa Village Bahi District Dodoma. The study revealed that about (98.9%) of the respondents aware about HIV/AIDS. A majority (95.6%) of the respondents were aware about main cause of HIV transmission as sexual intercourse, Mother to child transmission (77.6%), sharing of sharp equipments (63.2%) and Blood transfusion (20%). Majority (74.3%) of the respondents were related to agricultural activities, while 3.3% were civil servants. Some of the detrimental traditional practices identified in the study include widow inheritance with 5% of the respondents traditional practices traditional widow inheritance which is detrimental, 11% of respondents said girls got married earlier,while, polygamous marriage contributed to 13%, whereas 26% associated themselves with extramarital sexual relationships, and 66% of the respondents reported practicing Female Genital Mutilation.KEY WORDS:HIV, AIDS, Socio-cultural Factors, Female GenitalMutilatio