HIV in Masaka sex workers up to 66%
Jun 13, 2011
THE HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among sex workers in Masaka district has risen to as high as 66% at some landing sites.
By VISION REPORTERS
THE HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among sex workers in Masaka district has risen to as high as 66% at some landing sites.
“Out of the 900 sex workers tested at the landing sites of Namirembe Kakyanga and Ddimo in Masaka district, at least 600 were found to be HIV-positive,†district HIV/AIDS focal officer Wilson Behwera said.
The study, done in June 2010 at the selected sites, was an extension of an earlier survey done at landing sites on the shores of Lake Victoria under the Kalangala Home-Based Voluntary Counselling and Testing programme.
Behwera said a team of researchers from the district health office and the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) carried out the survey, which revealed that slums like Kakyafu in Nyendo Senyange division, also had a prevalence rate of 28% among sex workers.
Addressing a stakeholder’s conference for Masaka district at Maria-Flo Hotel in Masaka on May 27, Behwera said low condom use, poverty, laxity among local leaders, increased sharing of partners and use of expired condoms were the reasons for increased prevalence.
On the other hand, a 2007 UAC study revealed that fishermen feared the lake much more than HIV. The survey put HIV prevalence in fishing communities at 38% in some areas, a percentage more than five times the national average of 6.4%.
Another study published in April in the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association reported that of the 1,027 women recruited from Kampala’s prostitution hubs, 37% were HIV-positive.
Behwera said behavioural change towards the pandemic was still a major weakness responsible for the increase in the infection levels.
An official at the Medical Research Council said they were not aware of the findings but confirmed the high prevalence rates among fishing communities.
After all, it was among these Lake Victoria fishing communities that the first cases of HIV/AIDS in Uganda in the early 1980s were reported at Kasensero landing site in Rakai district, neighbouring Masaka.
According to UAC statistics, Masaka has an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 10%, which is higher than 6.4%, the national prevalence rate.
The district lies along the northern transport corridor, which straddles across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo, linking Mombasa, Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and Goma.
Masaka is a commercial centre and resting point for cross-border truck drivers, who make stop overs in the district’s trading centres, creating a demand for commercial sex.
Musa Wamala, one of the stakeholders, blamed born-again churches that discourage HIV-positive from seeking medical attention.
“Our people who run to born- again churches for spiritual healing are perishing,†he said.
Wamala also attacked churches that condemn the use of condoms, arguing that every approach raised to fight HIV/AIDS must be respected.
The Catholic church has a strong stand against the use of condoms.
Lambu landing site local council chairman Charles Ntesibe called on the Government to make special interventions.
Ntesibe, who is HIV-positive, said focus should be put on programmes that encourage fishing communities to develop a positive attitude towards the culture of routine testing for HIV/AIDS.
Reporting by Chris Kiwawulo and Dismus Buregyeya
THE HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among sex workers in Masaka district has risen to as high as 66% at some landing sites.
“Out of the 900 sex workers tested at the landing sites of Namirembe Kakyanga and Ddimo in Masaka district, at least 600 were found to be HIV-positive,†district HIV/AIDS focal officer Wilson Behwera said.
The study, done in June 2010 at the selected sites, was an extension of an earlier survey done at landing sites on the shores of Lake Victoria under the Kalangala Home-Based Voluntary Counselling and Testing programme.
Behwera said a team of researchers from the district health office and the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) carried out the survey, which revealed that slums like Kakyafu in Nyendo Senyange division, also had a prevalence rate of 28% among sex workers.
Addressing a stakeholder’s conference for Masaka district at Maria-Flo Hotel in Masaka on May 27, Behwera said low condom use, poverty, laxity among local leaders, increased sharing of partners and use of expired condoms were the reasons for increased prevalence.
On the other hand, a 2007 UAC study revealed that fishermen feared the lake much more than HIV. The survey put HIV prevalence in fishing communities at 38% in some areas, a percentage more than five times the national average of 6.4%.
Another study published in April in the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association reported that of the 1,027 women recruited from Kampala’s prostitution hubs, 37% were HIV-positive.
Behwera said behavioural change towards the pandemic was still a major weakness responsible for the increase in the infection levels.
An official at the Medical Research Council said they were not aware of the findings but confirmed the high prevalence rates among fishing communities.
After all, it was among these Lake Victoria fishing communities that the first cases of HIV/AIDS in Uganda in the early 1980s were reported at Kasensero landing site in Rakai district, neighbouring Masaka.
According to UAC statistics, Masaka has an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 10%, which is higher than 6.4%, the national prevalence rate.
The district lies along the northern transport corridor, which straddles across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo, linking Mombasa, Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and Goma.
Masaka is a commercial centre and resting point for cross-border truck drivers, who make stop overs in the district’s trading centres, creating a demand for commercial sex.
Musa Wamala, one of the stakeholders, blamed born-again churches that discourage HIV-positive from seeking medical attention.
“Our people who run to born- again churches for spiritual healing are perishing,†he said.
Wamala also attacked churches that condemn the use of condoms, arguing that every approach raised to fight HIV/AIDS must be respected.
The Catholic church has a strong stand against the use of condoms.
Lambu landing site local council chairman Charles Ntesibe called on the Government to make special interventions.
Ntesibe, who is HIV-positive, said focus should be put on programmes that encourage fishing communities to develop a positive attitude towards the culture of routine testing for HIV/AIDS.
Reporting by Chris Kiwawulo and Dismus Buregyeya