<P> Christian men and women also had a higher infection rate than their Muslim counterparts . This discrepancy was especially marked among women, with Muslim women showing a rate of 2.8 percent versus 8.4 percent among Protestant women and 8 percent among Catholic women . HIV was also more common among the wealthiest than among the poorest (7.2 percent versus 4.6 percent). </P> <P> Historically, HIV had been more prevalent in urban than rural areas, although the gap is closing rapidly . Men in rural areas are now more likely to be HIV - infected (at 4.5 percent) than those in urban areas (at 3.7 percent). </P> <P> Between 2004 and 2008, the HIV incidence rate in Tanzania for ages 15--44 slowed to 3.37 per 1,000 person - years (4.42 for women and 2.36 for men). The number of newly infected people per year increased slightly, from 140,000 in 2001 to 150,000 in 2011 . There were also significantly fewer HIV infections in Zanzibar, which in 2011 had a prevalence rate of 1.0 percent compared to 5.3 percent in mainland Tanzania . </P> <P> Uganda has registered a gradual decrease in its HIV rates from 10.6 percent in 1997, to a stabilized 6.5 - 7.2 percent since 2001 . This has been attributed to changing local behavioral patterns, with more respondents reporting greater use of contraceptives and a two - year delay in first sexual activity as well as fewer people reporting casual sexual encounters and multiple partners . </P>

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