Several sex workers in East Africa are still ignoring the use of condoms despite the increasing HIV/Aids awareness campaigns in the country. Perhaps this could explain current HIV high infection rates in Uganda, Tanzania and East Africa in general.

The Tanzanian National Statistics of 2007/2008 show that the country’s infection rate was over 6.5 per cent. Research figures in Dar es Salaam indicate that urban areas in Uganda and Tanzania lead in new infections with over 8.7%.

Reports indicate that sex workers and some of their customers have an infection rate of 7%. This is according to the USAID report of the year 2009. But other research in Tanzania recently done by Voluntary Centres show that the infection rate for the prostitutes stands at 9.74% in Dar es Salaam alone.

The survey conducted by the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS in 2002 further indicated that infections to sex customers in Dar es Salaam alone increased from 29 per cent in 1983 to over 50 per cent in 1993.

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