Research: HIV / Tanzania
Of the 34 million people living in Tanzania, just 1.3 million live in the Kilimanjaro Region and 79% percent of these are classified as residing in rural areas. The population includes members of Chagga and Pare tribes, Bantu peoples who are mostly agriculturalists, and the Maasai, Nilotic people who are mostly pastoral nomads. The region’s economy is based on subsistence agriculture, commercial coffee, sugar cane, and sisal production, tanzanite mining, and tourism associated with Mount Kilimanjaro and the Northern Circuit National Parks such as the Serengeti. HIV seroprevalence in the region matches the national figure of 8%.
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre or KCMC, where
most of our staff are based, is located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro
and is one of four national referral hospitals. It has 600 beds and
serves the entire Northern Zone of Tanzania, a population of 12 million
people. It is also home to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College, one
of Tanzania’s
4 medical schools and schools of allied health sciences. HIV/AIDS services
include a newly constructed HIV/AIDS clinic, 
showed to the right, which
now has more than 1,000 patients under follow up. Treatment and care
services are supported by the President’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, of PEPFAR, and the Global Fund.
The Gates Biotechnology Laboratory is also on the KCMC campus.
Built by the Bill and Medlinda Gates Foundation and opened in 2005, the facility support laboratory activities of the Joint Malaria Programme, a research consortium including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an HIV Prevention Trials Network site managed by the Harvard School of Public Health, and HIV treatment and care studies coordinated through the Duke Program.
Update On Studies in Moshi, Tanzania April 28 2005
Tuberculosis and HIV Immune Reconstitution Syndrome Trial (THIRST)
A pilot study of fixed dose combination zidovudine/lamivudine/abacavir in HIV infected persons with tuberculosis in Moshi, Tanzania [details]
Cotrimoxazole Study
Evaluation of Introduction of Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Prophylaxis for Persons with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa on Antimicrobial Resistant Infections in Clinical Diseases [details]
Fulbright Clinical Staging Study
Evaluation of Clinical Staging Criteria of HIV Infection in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania [details]
KCMC IDC Databases
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) Adult and Pediatric HIV Clinic Databases [details]
Antiretroviral Drug Adherence and Resistance Study (ADAR)
Predictors of Emerging Virologic Failure and Resistance among HIV-Infected Patients Treated With Fixed Dose Combination Stavudine/ Lamivudine/Nevirapine in Northern Tanzania [details]
KIWAKKUKI VCT
KIWAKKUKI HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Project
Since its inception, over 3,000 clients have received HIV testing at the Moshi AIDS Information Centre at KIWAKKUKI (a community-based AIDS service organization serving the Kilimanjaro Region).[details]
KIWAKKUKI QuantiFERON Study
Evaluation of an ESAT-6 and CFP-10 Based Whole Blood IFN-? Assay (QuantiFERON-TB GOLD) for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis Among Tanzanian Patients Co-Infected with HIV [details]
KIWAKKUKI HBC Study
Clinical Characteristics of HIV Home Based Care Clients in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania [details]