Gov't urged to re-focus HIV campaign in fishing communities

By Joanita Tushabe and John Agaba

CAN Uganda really hope to achieve millennium development goal 6 on combating HIV/Aids, Malaria and other diseases by 2015?

This was the question put forward by KMCC, a local NGO spearheading knowledge sharing in the fight against HIV, tasking government to draw an AIDS intervention program specifically targeting fisher folks, whose prevalence remain a cast high — 3 to 4 times higher than the national prevalence.

According to reports from both the Uganda AIDS Commission and the health ministry, HIV prevalence in fishing communities ranges from 25% to 50%. It is higher among women compared to the men.

And we cannot reduce the HIV prevalence in the country which stands at 7.3% (national), let alone meet the MDG 6 if we don’t have a specific intervention specifically targeting HIV fight among fisher folks, Maria Kwesiga, a research consultant with KMCC said.

She said government needs to draw a specific strategy for regular sensitization of fisher folks about HIV, how it is acquired, transmitted and how it can be prevented.

“We need a strategy committing government to supplying this number of ARVs to people in these most at risk areas — showing that by the end of this period we shall have circumcised this number of sexually active males and extended HIV counseling and testing services to this number of people,” Kwesiga said.

Fishing communities post one of the poorest statistics when it comes to health care access.

“There are hardly any health centres. People have to take a boat to access a health facility which is miles away. And they have to pay a lot of money to access these services,” Ssenyonga Kambugu, a community leader from Kiimi island, said.

“This makes the fight against the virus even harder,” Leslie Nielson, from the International Aids Vaccine Initiative, said.

A recent report by the Uganda AIDS Commission reveals that access to condoms in these most at risk areas was way short by over 45%.

“As a result of the shortage some people in the communities have resorted to using polythene bags when having sex,” Dr. Lulume Bayigga, the Buikwe South MP, said citing Katosi, Kiyindi and Seyi landing sites as some of the worst hit landing sites.

“Government should address the problem of shortage of condoms in the country,” Bayigga said.

Fred Badda, Bujumba County MP said it was time Government procured a mobile boat clinic to extend health services to the communities.

“If Uganda is to attain the national theme of ensuring zero new infections, zero discriminations and zero Aids-related deaths, there is urgent need for more commitment on how to involve the most-at-risk populations.” Dr. Bright Rwamirama, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, said officiating the meeting.

However, Dr. Peter Mudiope, the head of HIV prevention at UAC, said “efforts are ongoing to integrate improved HIV services within the fishing communities.”

Dr. Alex Opio, the assistant commissioner disease control at the Health Ministry, recently noted that HIV/AIDS in fishing communities was increasingly becoming hard to manage because of the mobile nature of the fishermen and the lack of enough quality health facilities in the areas.

He said: “Today they (fisher men) are on one island; after a month they have moved. They move with the fish. This makes it difficult in terms of follow up.”

Uganda has about 750 fishing villages and about 2 million Ugandans are living in these communities; and about 500, 000 people are infected within the fishing communities.