GENEVA, Switzerland, November 11, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM, Uganda’s Ministry of Health, UNAIDS and the Uganda AIDS Commission last week organized a national consultative meeting on HIV/AIDS response in the country’s fishing communities.
Among the 7.3 per cent of Ugandans between 15 and 49 who are HIV positive, fishing communities have the highest HIV rates at three to five times above the national average. HIV rates among fishermen, 90 per cent of whom are migrants, according to a 2013 IOM study, range from 22 to 40 per cent.
The IOM study interviewed nearly 2,000 respondents in 42 inland fishing communities in six districts, including six different lakes. High risk behaviours identified included multiple sexual partners, low uptake of condom use and low rates of health service care.
The Kampala meeting aimed to identify the special challenges faced by fishing communities and to prioritize HIV prevention, treatment and mitigation programmes. These include a lack of health services facilities in remote areas and inconsistent HIV outreach services.
Participants agreed to improve service delivery, to adopt a national roadmap and to establish a task force including IOM, UN and government agencies. The roadmap highlights the gaps, provides goals, objectives, strategies and guidance to policymakers and stakeholders responsible for ensuring access to the HIV response in fishing communities.
“HIV has affected our production in Uganda. We are dealing with fishing communities whose behaviour needs our attention,” said Uganda’s Minister of State for Animal Industries, Bright K. Rwamirama, highlighting the need for the government to move forward, integrate and expand HIV programming in fishing communities.
“As the fishing communities are mainly composed of migrants, we need to provide services on HIV/AIDS that move with this extremely mobile population,” said IOM Migration and Health specialist Michaela Martini.
Since the first AIDS cases were identified in a Lake Victoria fishing community in 1982, there have been increasing efforts to provide accessible HIV services. But the mobility of the fishermen and the remoteness of the areas in which they work represent serious obstacles.
The impact of HIV/AIDS on fishing communities goes beyond public health. It has a deep negative impact on the communities, on the fisheries sector, on the rural economy and on the overall development of the country. The labour force is depleted, production decreases, the level of poverty increases and individuals and families face difficulties coping with economic shocks.
Uganda’s fisheries sector employs some 2.5 million people, contributes over 2.8 per cent of GDP and represents 8 per cent of export earnings.
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