TAZAMA Health and Demographic Surveillance System, 1994-2012

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Summary

The TAZAMA Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) study site is located in the Kisesa and Bukandwe rural electoral wards in the Magu district of the Mwanza Region in Northern Tanzania. T...

The TAZAMA Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) study site is located in the Kisesa and Bukandwe rural electoral wards in the Magu district of the Mwanza Region in Northern Tanzania. The two wards are comprised of six villages. There is one health center and five dispensaries (3 public and 2 private) in the study area. The two wards have eleven government primary schools (at least one in each village) and two secondary schools. Both Mwanza city and Magu town are accessible to residents; buses run along the main road and take about an hour and a half to get to Mwanza. Most of the residents are subsistence farmers; a lot of surplus agricultural produce is traded in Mwanza, which is Tanzania's second city. In the year 2012, the research study covered a population of about 30,000 people who live in the Kisesa and Bukandwe wards. The majority of the residents (about ninety five per cent) belong to the Sukuma ethnic group. The DSS collects information on births and deaths and movements in and out of the households. It helps researchers to understand the population dynamics in the study area including fertility, mortality and migration patterns. It provides information on the structure of families that live together. The DSS study is also used to identify people who are eligible to participate in the serological surveys (the right age group, and continuously resident rather than just visiting). It provides the data for calculating the denominators for demographic rates. The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to improve understanding of the dynamics of the HIV epidemic; (2) to assess the demographic, social and economic impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; (3) to evaluate the effects of national prevention, treatment and care interventions as implemented in Kisesa Ward; (4) to measure child and adult mortality and fertility in the general population and by HIV status; (5) to asses the leading causes of death through verbal autopsy; (6) to assess changes in the family structure due to HIV epidemic; and (7) to provide reliable data for district health planning.Cf: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29541.v1

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