HIV Response: Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre Joins National Efforts to Fight HIV among Fisher Folk Communities on Lake Victoria

Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre (NTIHC) has received funding from Gilead Sciences, Inc to contribute towards the national HIV Response among key populations in Uganda by increasing knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among key populations in fishing communities.

Dubbed STAR-C Project, that is, Strengthening The HIV/AIDS Response in Central Uganda.

Project: Building community resilience and action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic amongst the Fisher Folk, Female Sex Workers and People Living With HIV(PLHIV) in Mukono and Buikwe districts of Central Uganda, the project is targeting the youth aged 35 and below, who are known to be disproportionately affected by HIV, especially adolescent girls and young women on Katosi and Ssenyi fish landing sites in Mukono and Kiyindi and Busaana fish Landing Sites in Buikwe.

Throughout the 12 months of implementation, NTIHC will provide education and increase HIV/AIDS awareness and linkage to care services amongst 8,800 fisher folk, Female Sex Workers and People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Central region districts of Buikwe and Mukono. The project also looks at building the capacity of the local health workforce and Community-Based Organizations in the provision of quality, friendly and responsive HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services in the targeted districts.

NTIHC will leverage mobile health technology in HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment to increase access to cheaper treatment and response to medical emergencies.

According to MoH (2020), Ugandan Lake Victorian fisher folk communities have an HIV prevalence estimated to be between 15–40 % —much higher than in the Ugandan general population, for whom HIV prevalence is estimated to be 7.3 %. Additionally, these communities have high numbers of Female Sex Workers.

This project is a community need and it is envisaged to contribute to the attainment of the targets of Uganda’s National Health sector HIV/ AIDS strategic plan 2018/2019 whose goal is to reduce the HIV incidence and HIV-related mortality by 50%, by the year 2023 in addition to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 that among others targets, seeks to end the epidemic of AIDS and other communicable diseases by 2030.

SK OMUZINNYI