PAMOJA - TOGETHER was founded by dedicated supporters of the Tanzanian HIV/AIDS self-help group PIUMA in 2008 to assist HIV-positive patients in their struggle for the recognition of the human right to obtain medical treatment through public and media relations activities as well as assistance in the form of financial support and human resources Most of our members have been working closely with PIUMA since 2005.

Both PAMOJA and PIUMA advocate for high-quality health care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in accordance with the human right to medical treatment as well as for the recognition of and the adherence to this right by the government, the church, foreign donor agencies,international medical-technology companies and society as a whole.

In order to ensure high-quality medical treatment in the future, PAMOJA and PIUMA fight against corruption within the governmental and ecclesiastic public health sectors and demand more transparency and control within the non-governmental (NGO) sector.

Even though anti-retroviral medication has been available for free in Tanzania since 2005, many members of PIUMA and other PLWHA within the area of Bulongwa/ Makete district/ Tanzania experience difficulties gaining access to high-quality treatment.

Throughout the years, governmental subsidies as well as church donations from Europe have been embezzled through church officials at the Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital and the South Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT).

Added to that, the national government of Tanzania has sanctioned the use of just one brand of cd4 counter - an essential laboratory tool for assessing the health status of HIV-patients. This cd4 counter, the FACSCount of Becton Dickinson & Co. an American supplier, has proven unfit for use in developing countries due to its high operating costs, its difficulties in servicing and, most importantly, its incapability to assess the immune status of children under 5 years old. Independent reviews of this decision by the Tanzanian Ministry of Health have revealed inadequate scientific procedures and have suggested that payments exchanged hands to buy the outcome.

The embezzlement of health care funds and foreign aid money and the monopolization of the FACSCount have resulted in a situation where patients cannot be guaranteed access to high-quality and life-saving medical treatment.

PIUMA was the first group of people within the region that stood up to criticize governmental and ecclesiastical authorities and to hold them responsible for their actions. This self-help group has held numerous public protests against corruption in the past and called for a reform of the local health care system. PIUMAs work has successfully brought the sensitive issue of corruption within the government and the church into the Tanzanian media and has publicly requested the adherence to human rights.

In consequence to PIUMAs commitment against corruption within the governmental and ecclesiastic public health sectors, the management of Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital and the diocesan leadership of the South Central Diocese forcibly closed a well functioning HIV/AIDS-Program, which PIUMA co-managed, in April 2006. Since then the ELCT denies the HIV-patients of Bulongwa the human right to adequate health care. At least 70 patients –dozens of PIUMA members- are known to have died as a result of this gross abuse of human rights.

Although the religious partner organizations of ELCT from Europe and the United States as well as numerous international NGOs working in the field of HIV/AIDS in Makete District have been fully informed about the forced closure of the HIV/AIDS-Program at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital, none of these organizations reacted in favour of the patients and advocated for the human rights of PLWHA in Bulongwa.

PAMOJA considers corruption within the health care sector of Tanzania and the ill-conceived foreign aid policies of western states, faith based organizations and NGOs, as well as the questionable business policies of international companies working in the field of HIV/AIDS, to be the major obstacle to access of high-quality treatment for PLWHA in Tanzania.

Purpose of the association:

The mission of PAMOJA - TOGETHER is to support grassroots organizations within the realm of civil society, who fight for human rights, freedom of speech, the right to access medical treatment, and who campaign against corruption through public and media relations activities.

Executive committee and auditors:

Chairperson: Mag.(FH) Fabian Wirnsperger
Asst. chairperson: Dr. Judith Schnabler

Secretary of the board: Elisabeth Zenz
Asst. secretary of the board: Mag. Phillip Schneider

Auditors: Susanne Kralik, MSc and Wolfgang Rausch