FPAU targets Mbarara bars, garages for HIV campaign
Jan 03, 2006
THE Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU) has earmarked sh149.5m to combat the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among young and hard-to-reach groups in Mbarara Municipality.
By Kyomuhendo Muhanga
THE Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU) has earmarked sh149.5m to combat the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among young and hard-to-reach groups in Mbarara Municipality.
FPAU gender and youth coordinator Diana Opolot said a big percentage of the total budget would go to counselling and dissemination of HIV/AIDS messages, while the remaining percentage would cater for training of peer educators and office management.
She said to increase awareness, the peer educators will be required to carry out a door- to-door campaign and would also visit workplaces like bars, salons, garages and taxi parks.
Opolot was recently addressing staff and peer educators of the Mbarara based HIV/AIDS project code-named HIV prevention among vulnerable and hard-to-reach youth in Uganda.
The group was meeting at Pelikan Hotel in Mbarara to review the achievements and short falls encountered last year.
The FPAU national programme manager, Dr. Ismail Ndifuna, attended the meeting.
The programme, funded by the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA), was launched in September and ends in February 2008.
According to the 2005 Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey, the HIV prevalence rate has stagnated at about 6.5% over the last three years and indicates that Banyankole and Bakiga were at 6.8% and 6.6% respectively.
“Possible reasons for the stable rate are complacency, and some boys are having sex earlier, and adults aged 15 to 59 are having more multiple partners,†the report said.
Sam Mwandala, the project officer of FPAU Mbarara Branch, said the project’s main objectives are to see at least a big percentage of young people and hard-to-reach groups adopting safe sex practices by the end of February, 2008.
The project targets urban school drop-outs aged between 10-24 years, boda boda cyclists, brick makers, commercial sex workers and bars and house maids. Others are taxi touts video tech operators, wheel barrow pushers, hawkers and vendors.
Mwandala said the project would also increase condom supply in town from 13,000 supplied last year to about 25,000.
Members at the meeting requested donors to send the funds in time so that they tighten grip on the shortfalls.
Ends
THE Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU) has earmarked sh149.5m to combat the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among young and hard-to-reach groups in Mbarara Municipality.
FPAU gender and youth coordinator Diana Opolot said a big percentage of the total budget would go to counselling and dissemination of HIV/AIDS messages, while the remaining percentage would cater for training of peer educators and office management.
She said to increase awareness, the peer educators will be required to carry out a door- to-door campaign and would also visit workplaces like bars, salons, garages and taxi parks.
Opolot was recently addressing staff and peer educators of the Mbarara based HIV/AIDS project code-named HIV prevention among vulnerable and hard-to-reach youth in Uganda.
The group was meeting at Pelikan Hotel in Mbarara to review the achievements and short falls encountered last year.
The FPAU national programme manager, Dr. Ismail Ndifuna, attended the meeting.
The programme, funded by the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA), was launched in September and ends in February 2008.
According to the 2005 Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey, the HIV prevalence rate has stagnated at about 6.5% over the last three years and indicates that Banyankole and Bakiga were at 6.8% and 6.6% respectively.
“Possible reasons for the stable rate are complacency, and some boys are having sex earlier, and adults aged 15 to 59 are having more multiple partners,†the report said.
Sam Mwandala, the project officer of FPAU Mbarara Branch, said the project’s main objectives are to see at least a big percentage of young people and hard-to-reach groups adopting safe sex practices by the end of February, 2008.
The project targets urban school drop-outs aged between 10-24 years, boda boda cyclists, brick makers, commercial sex workers and bars and house maids. Others are taxi touts video tech operators, wheel barrow pushers, hawkers and vendors.
Mwandala said the project would also increase condom supply in town from 13,000 supplied last year to about 25,000.
Members at the meeting requested donors to send the funds in time so that they tighten grip on the shortfalls.
Ends