Evolution of HIV/AIDS discourse among the Haya on ten landing sites on the western shores of Lake Victoria, Tanzania: need for a shift from a biomedical to a meaningful life discourse

Abstract

Kagera is one of the areas considered to be an epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. This has been due to linking HIV/AIDS and the cross-border trade between Uganda and Tanzania, an activity that was due to lack of essential commodities after the Uganda-Tanzania War of 1978- 1981. In a survey in the landing sites of Lake Victoria, where one of the elements is to know the state of HIV/AIDS, it is found out that people are giving up in their struggle against HIV/AIDS, a situation that leads to the perception of contracting HIV/AIDS being an "occupational hazard". As the African sexual permissiveness theory has been at the back of the bio-medical discourse and the eventual behavioural change paradigms in guiding HIV/AIDS interventions, this article proposes change of discourse by having the meaningful life discourse in HIV/AIDS interventions.