Sexually Transmitted Diseases among the Women of Northern Tanzania and the Government Initiatives to Control the Diseases in Colonial and Post-Colonial Tanzania From The 1890s to 2000s

Abstract

This paper explores the trends in prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Disease among the Women of Northern Tanzania and the Government Initiatives to control the diseases in Colonial and Post colonial Tanzania from the 1890s to 2000s. Specifically, the paper focuses on the forces that shaped the spread of STDs, the discourses on their socio-economic impact; and the government initiatives to control the diseases. Rather than focusing on STDS on the general population as it has been the case with many other studies, this paper examines the history of STDs among the women in northern Tanzania. It is argued that the spread, impacts and responses to the disease were determined by global context, government and culture. On understanding the cultural and biological aspects of STDs the paper draws the combination of political economy and social constructionism theories. The paper has established that the
prevalence of STDs can be traced specifically during the early contact of African community with the external world, the sailors and the merchants, that its spread was driven by different factors; and that the diseases enlisted varied initiatives from both government and society at large. To support the aforementioned findings, this paper used secondary sources namely historical and medical books, journal articles, theses and electronic materials. This study
is significant as it adds to a body of historical knowledge on how STDs affected women and the initiatives the community, colonial and post-colonial Tanzania governments took to control such diseases.