The National Response to HIV in Tanzania has evolved since 1985. Under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) and its National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) supported by World Health Organisations (WHO) Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) one short-term (STP) and 3 medium-term plans (MTPs) were developed and implemented between 1985 and 2002.

The HIV epidemic in Tanzania still poses a major threat to the national development and has been declared a national disaster.