HIV Testing

More than 75% of adults in these rural fishing communities had ever tested for HIV. Peer network interventions consistently improved HIV testing uptake among men. Reported increases in testing uptake ranged from 15% to 50% among men in fishing communities and key populations such as MSM and adolescents. Adults reporting fishing activities had higher lifetime HIV testing rates than the general rural population (84.1% vs. 73.3%). Persistent HIV testing gaps among reproductive-age women are observed consistently across 28 sub-Saharan African countries. Tanzania's untested proportion among women exceeds the 17.37% figure from a comparable Rwandan study, though the Rwandan sample was predominantly male. One in five Tanzanian women of reproductive age (20.2%) reported never having been tested for HIV. Approximately half of self-reported HIV-negative adults had tested in the past 12 months. HIV self-testing reduced stigma, protected privacy, lowered access barriers, and reached first-time testers. Peer-led education, door-to-door campaigns, HIVST kit distribution, targeted messaging, and community mobilisation made testing more acceptable and accessible. Women who reported having extra-s…