Youth group gets sh150m from Baylor to fight AIDS

Youth Integrated Development organisation (YIDO) has received sh150m from Baylor-Uganda to scale up paediatric HIV/AIDS intervention in  Nakawa and Central Divisions of Kampala Capital City.

The funding will boost a range of activities such as basic clinical services to HIV/AIDS patients, conducting referrals and orphans and vulnerable children assessments.

According to Moses Mushime, the executive director of YIDO, the funding from Baylor visualises the implementation of a "tailored but comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment that uses community health facility referral framework.

"The project will also "link people living with HIV/AIDS to government-led enterprises such as Youth Livelihood Fund and Uganda Women Enterprise program, working closely with Community Development Officers within Kampala Capital City," said Mushime.

Speaking to New Vision, he noted that: "unlike conventional HIV/AIDS care setting, this project will be referring patients from the health facility to community to access treatment, psychosocial support, and health education and will also equip clients with business and vocational skills."

Key areas to be covered

The key component of the project focuses on the Most at Risk Populations (MARPs) that include commercial sex workers, drug users, boda boda riders, people in armed forces such as; police, the army and prisons.

In a memorandum of understanding, the two parties argued that the partnership must be set out to strengthen linkages from the community to the health facility and vice- versa.

Statistics

According to Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey (UAIS) 2011, HIV/AIDS prevalence in Uganda increased from 6.7% in 2006 to 7.3% in 2011. The disease was disproportionately high among women, at 8.3%, and 6.1% among men.

This implies that HIV/AIDS epidemic remains one of the most significant public health problems facing Uganda.