As of 2012, life expectancy at birth was 61 years. The under-five mortality rate in 2012 was 54 per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate in 2013 was estimated at 410 per 100,000 live births. Prematurity and malaria were tied in 2010 as the leading cause of death in children under 5 years old. The other leading causes of death for these children were, in decreasing order, malaria, diarrhoea, HIV, and measles.
Malaria in Tanzania causes death and disease and has a “huge economic impact”. There were approximately 11.5 million cases of clinical malaria in 2008. In 2007–08, malaria prevalence among children aged 6 months to 5 years was highest in the Kagera Region (41.1 percent) on the western shore of Lake Victoria and lowest in the Arusha Region (0.1 percent).
According to the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010, 15 percent of Tanzanian women had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) and 72 percent of Tanzanian men had been circumcised. FGM is most common in the Manyara, Dodoma, Arusha, and Singida regions and nonexistent in Zanzibar. The prevalence of male circumcision was above 90 percent in the eastern (Dar es Salaam, Pwani, and Morogoro regions), northern (Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Arusha, and Manyara regions), and central areas (Dodoma and Singida regions) and below 50 percent only in the southern highlands zone (Mbeya, Iringa, and Rukwa regions).
2012 data showed that 53 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources (defined as a source that “by nature of its construction and design, is likely to protect the source from outside contamination, in particular from faecal matter”) and 12 percent used improved sanitation facilities (defined as facilities that “likely hygienically separates human excreta from human contact” but not including facilities shared with other households or open to public use).
HIV/AIDS in Tanzania
The World Health Organization estimated in 2012 that the prevalence of HIV was 3.1 percent, although the Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey 2011–12 found that, on average, 5.1 percent of those tested in the 15 to 49 age group were HIV-positive. Anti-retroviral treatment coverage for people living with HIV was 37 percent in 2013, compared to 19 percent in 2011. According to a 2013 report published by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS that compares 2012 with 2001 data, AIDS deaths have decreased 33 percent, new HIV infections have decreased 36 percent, and new HIV infections among children have decreased 67 percent.
Women in Tanzania
Women and men have equality for the law. The government signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1985. Nearly 3 out of ten females reported having experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. The prevalence of female genital mutilation has decreased. School girls are reinstated back to school after delivery. The Police Force administration strives to separate the Gender Desks from normal police operations to enhance confidentiality of the processing of women victims of abuse. Most of the abuses and violence against women and children occurs at the family level. The Constitution of Tanzania requires that women to constitute at least 30% of all elected members of National Assembly. The gender differences in education and training have implications later in life of these women and girls. Unemployment is higher for females than for males. The right of a female employee to maternity leave is guaranteed in labour law.
