Sh340m HIV/AIDS project launched
THE Energy Institute of Uganda in collaboration with the Family Health International has launched a $200,000 HIV/AIDS project target in communities in the northern transport corridor.
By Irene Nabusoba
THE Energy Institute of Uganda in collaboration with the Family Health International has launched an HIV/AIDS project. The project, worth $200,000 (about sh340m) targets communities in the northern transport corridor.
The USAID funded ‘Community Voices in Uganda Project’, has been piloting in the two border areas of Busia and Katuna and in two truck stops of Naluwerere and Lyantonde for the past nine months.
The project focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention intervention.
Launching the programme at Katuna border post in Kabale district last week, Kathryn Panther, USAID’s chief HIV/AIDS, health and education officer, said the intervention was part of President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR funds.
The funds are part of the $1.7m Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS)/Safe T Stop Uganda project which will also include care and treatment programmes for communities where the HIV/AIDS prevalence is reportedly twice the national estimates.
The project coordinator, Annet Nabuduwa, said the project uses tailor-made interventions to reach high risk groups in the ‘hot spots’, particularly truck drivers.
“They are the reason commercial sex thrives in these spots.†Nabuduwa said.
“We have been conducting voluntary counseling and testing at night and the community has massively responded. 548 truck drivers and 504 commercial sex workers have responded positively to our programme,†she added.
Katuna has a 12% HIV prevalence rate according to the Kabale AIDS Information Centre estimates.
Ndorwa West MP David Bahati applauded the five-year-project saying it was timely.
“I have over 7,000 orphans in this constituency. Most are a result of HIV/AIDS.â€
THE Energy Institute of Uganda in collaboration with the Family Health International has launched an HIV/AIDS project. The project, worth $200,000 (about sh340m) targets communities in the northern transport corridor.
The USAID funded ‘Community Voices in Uganda Project’, has been piloting in the two border areas of Busia and Katuna and in two truck stops of Naluwerere and Lyantonde for the past nine months.
The project focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention intervention.
Launching the programme at Katuna border post in Kabale district last week, Kathryn Panther, USAID’s chief HIV/AIDS, health and education officer, said the intervention was part of President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR funds.
The funds are part of the $1.7m Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS)/Safe T Stop Uganda project which will also include care and treatment programmes for communities where the HIV/AIDS prevalence is reportedly twice the national estimates.
The project coordinator, Annet Nabuduwa, said the project uses tailor-made interventions to reach high risk groups in the ‘hot spots’, particularly truck drivers.
“They are the reason commercial sex thrives in these spots.†Nabuduwa said.
“We have been conducting voluntary counseling and testing at night and the community has massively responded. 548 truck drivers and 504 commercial sex workers have responded positively to our programme,†she added.
Katuna has a 12% HIV prevalence rate according to the Kabale AIDS Information Centre estimates.
Ndorwa West MP David Bahati applauded the five-year-project saying it was timely.
“I have over 7,000 orphans in this constituency. Most are a result of HIV/AIDS.â€