HIV/AIDS Prevention and the Overuse of Single-Use Devices in Tanzania

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At HSS 2026, Andrea Azizi Kifyasi presented ‘HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategies and the Overuse of Single-Use Devices in Tanzania, 1980s–2000s’ as part of Plastic Amnesias I, chaired by Alice Street.

The presentation examined how the emergence of HIV/AIDS accelerated the adoption of disposable medical products. Focusing on prevention campaigns before the introduction of antiretroviral therapies in 2004, Kifyasi traced how strategies supported by the Global Program on AIDS and other agencies promoted condoms, disposable syringes and gloves.

These products played an important role in reducing transmission, but their increasing use also created lasting disposal pressures. Drawing on archival, oral and published sources, the presentation considered how waste-management knowledge accompanied prevention programmes, and how growing volumes of plastic waste placed a particular burden on countries such as Tanzania.