Recent Age Patterns of Mortality in Tanzania: An Examination of the Impact of HIV/AIDS

Robert G. Mswia, University of Pennsylvania
Tukufu Zuberi, University of Pennsylvania

Recent studies on mortality in Africa have found stagnations or reversals of mortality in countries where HIV prevalence is high. We use verbal autopsy (VA) data from three communities in Tanzania to examine causes of death and age patterns of mortality, and whether these patterns reflect a significant impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Age- and sex-specific death rates by cause are compared with estimates from national populations with similar mortality conditions. We examine the extent to which the observed age patterns of mortality conform to the existing model life table systems. Using standard age patterns of mortality from different causes, we investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the age curves and cause-of-death structure. Consistent with other studies, our findings show high levels of adult mortality for both men and women in their most productive ages, and that HIV/AIDS pandemic largely contributes to distortions in the underlying age patterns of mortality.