Tanzania, like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has a growing “double burden” of both under- and overnutrition. This has been seen in the general population of Tanzania, as well as among people living with HIV, particularly as expanded coverage of HIV testing, treatment, and viral suppression has improved life expectancy of people living with HIV. In a study of adults living with HIV in Dar es Salaam showed that 25% of adults became overweight within the first 5 years of ART and 10% became obese. In addition to traditional nutritional factors, there are HIV-specific factors increasing the risk of NCDs. Nevertheless, at the same time, food insecurity, anemia and underweight remain prevalent. As a result, implementation strategies are needed to simultaneously address both under- and over-nutrition.
The Tanzania-Harvard research program has a long history of randomized trials and observational studies that have developed and tested nutritional interventions in HIV. The HIV Implementation Science Program (HIS) is a collaborative program between Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), the Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This program provides implementation science training opportunities to early- and mid-career HIV researchers in Tanzania in effort to build capacity among the current and future leading scientists in this arena. The HIS Program is currently in its 7th year of funding and has supported 10 long-term Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2 doctoral fellowships, and 27 short-term fellowships. Research training within the program has focused on HIV-affected children, adolescent HIV, and through this workshop will build a new focus on HIV, nutrition, and NCDs.
The HIS program as is customary, organized its 7th Annual Symposium in Dar es Salaam Tanzania mid-January 2024. This symposium availed a platform where state and non-state actors, academicians, health practitioners and researchers discussed the current state of nutrition among people living with HIV in Tanzania and the prospect of new nutrition interventions without disregarding the need to expand reach of current effective interventions.
This symposium reviewed the state of the empirical evidence as well as potential novel interventions and implementation strategies in (i) HIV and NCDs, (ii) iron supplementation, and (iii) food supplementation in the context of TB. The esteemed group in attendance came to consensus on various fronts of interest where collaborative cutting-edge HIV implementation research could be advanced For Better Public Health.