HIV and Family Planning Integration in Tanzania

July 20, 2012

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is well positioned to serve as a foundation for other global health programs, building on its health infrastructure, training, and systems. To fulfill that potential in the vital area of women’s health will require integrating HIV/AIDS services with family planning and reproductive health services. The results from U.S. health investments in Tanzania indicate that this is a feasible and cost-effective strategy to combat the AIDS epidemic and promote the health of women and girls, and through them their families and communities. The lessons being learned in Tanzania should inform the scale up of strategic integration under PEPFAR for these critical interventions.

This report examines the situation in Tanzania, where the United States has supported the national government in making notable progress toward integrating HIV services with family planning and reproductive health, particularly through PMTCT programs. Integration in Tanzania has been driven by a number of factors, including political commitment from the national government, specified funding from the United States, and experience brought by some PEPFAR implementing partners in the area of family planning–HIV integration. Yet despite the improved policy environment, ongoing barriers remain in implementation, financing for integration, and integration of family planning as a core component of PEPFAR’s treatment programs.