The most vulnerable and affected groups include:

   women 15–24 years old;

   orphans and vulnerable children 0–18 years old;

    men 25–34 years old;

   sex workers;

    people in the transport sector, mines, police force, military, prisons and prisoners;

   Refugees and;

   elderly people forced into new roles as caregivers without support themselves.

There are an estimated 1.3 million AIDS orphans in the country and UNAIDS estimates that AIDS-related deaths stood at 86, 000 in 2009.

There has been strong political support to respond to the HIV epidemic. In 2001 the National AIDS Control Programme was created and a national policy on HIV/AIDS was developed. In early 2002, a multi-sectoral Tanzania Commission on AIDS (TACAIDS) was established by an Act of Parliament.

Dating back to 1999, AMICAALL Tanzania’s membership comprises all 23 city and municipal councils, representing an urban population of some 6.3 million. The Chapter’s framework programmes focus on advocacy, prevention, care and support and impact mitigation.

AMICAALL Tanzania has trained and supported 10 Council Multi-sectoral AIDS committees in services mapping and preparation of municipal profiles and HIV/AIDS service directories. Advocacy forums have been facilitated for sharing experiences and learning and the Chapter has supported development and implementation of workplace programmes for two large cities and assisted with Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) efforts, as well as providing special assistance to Zanzibar.

All 23 local authorities have operational HIV/AIDS plans mainstreamed into the Medium Term Development Framework, with all councils carrying out interventions in the focus areas.

As part of the launch, a public declaration was endorsed committing mayors and municipal leaders to action. Following the launch, municipal HIV and AIDS response programmes were initiated in several cities.

In 2002, a workshop was organised by the Tanzania AIDS Commission (TACAIDS), the President’s Office, Regional and Local Government and UNDP/Tanzania to identify ways to strengthen the Tanzania Chapter of the Alliance and the AMICAALL Tanzania Programme. A programme-planning mission, supported by UNDP and TACAIDS, in collaboration with UN APP, was conducted in 2003 and resulted in development of an AMICAALL plan of action.

In 2005, an AMICAALL Coordinator/National Technical Advisor was appointed with funding from the World Bank/IDF. A national UN Volunteer, funded by UNDP, also provided support to the AMICAALL Programme. AMICAALL Tanzania has been working closely with TACAIDS, UNDP, and UNAIDS on activities to enhance municipal-level capacity to respond to HIV and AIDS.