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Tanzania: Isles Refute Aids, Tourism Link
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
9 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008
Salma Said
Zanzibar
The Zanzibar government has allayed fears that the booming tourism industry has resulted to increased HIV/Aids infections in the Isles.
The minister for Tourism and Investment,Ms Samia Sululu Hassan,said yesterday that a recent research by the government has not revealed any connection between tourism and the Aids scourge.
The minister said this when answering a question by Fuoni Representative (CCM)Anaclet Thobias Makungula who had wanted to know if booming tourism fuels HIV/Aids infections.
The minister said research conducted last year has show that the growth of Isles tourism sector has increased the threat of HIV infection.
She instead blamed prostitution and drug use among youth as the main cause of infections of the disease in Zanzibar.
She said according to research findings, the rate of infection among businesspeople stands at 45 per cent, about 64 per cent among farmers and a minimal 15 per cent to hotel workers.
She said development of science and technology,has also contributed to the increase of HIV infections, citing porn films on television which entice people to go out to look for sex.
She asked the Representatives to cooperate with her ministry, Tourism Commission, UNAids and the Zanzibar Aids Commission in educating youth how to protect themselves from contracting HIV.
Meanwhile, mortuary rooms in Pemba island hospitals lack cooling equipment thus cannot preserve bodies for a long time, Isles deputy minister for Health and Social Welfare Shawana Buheti Hassan has said.
She said at the moment, the Zanzibar Government has no plans to expand or build more mortuary rooms on the Isles.
The deputy minister stated this when responding to a supplementary question by the Representative for Kwahani, Mr Ali Suleiman Ali.
The Representative had wanted to know if the government has plans to build more mortuary rooms and install cooling machines.
Ms Shawana said ChakeChake hospital in Pemba has a small mortuary room, but lacks cooling equipment, adding that efforts are underway to acquire new cooling machine.
Responding to a supplementary question by Representative for Fuoni Anaclet Thobias Makungila, the deputy minister said a broken down cooling machine at the Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar municipality has been repaired. The equipment was hit by lightening last month.
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She said her ministry plans to install lightening arrester to protection expensive medical equipment at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital from lightening and storms.
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