ENTEBBE – Over 30,000 residents of Kasenyi fishing landing site benefited from free access to services of sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day – Friday, courtesy of Family Medical Point – a not for profit organization that advocates, promotes and provides rights-based comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services to young people, women, sexual minorities, marginalized and hard to reach and forgotten communities.
Family Medical Point enhances access to life saving healthcare services, particularly comprehensive SRH services among minorities, key populations, marginalized communities and young people, but also empowers women and girls and promote school-wide health.
During World AIDS Day commemoration, they organized an outreach event at Kasenyi landing site aimed at raising awareness, community support, and encourage engagement in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Polyne Nabwire – Programmes and Communication Coordinator at Family Medical Point emphasized the need of providing accurate information about HIV/AIDS to people in rural and hard to reach locations and fishing communities as a critical component in the fight to end the scourge.
The Uganda Demographic Health Survey report 2022 shows that nearly 50% of people in rural locations do not have comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS compared to urban areas at 35%.
“Fishing communities in particular present a very high prevalence rate of HIV with studies averaging at between 12% – 20% compared to the 06% prevalence rate nationally,” she noted, underscoring the need for massive awareness.
Some of the voluntary services extended to the people of Kasenyi included family planning, free consultation and HIV test, STI and UTI treatments, child and maternal care and consultation.
Nabwire told the press that they chose Kasenyi because of its high rate of sexual activities “being that sex work is the major economic activity they have.”
She noted that Kasenyi has a high HIV prevalence rate but also a high rate of unsafe abortions.
“So by providing free family planning services, we hope to prevent unwanted pregnancies thus preventing unsafe abortions.”
Mzee Mbowa Harrison, Village Health Team lead – Kasenyi, says that the landing site is the centre of about 84 other landing sites, including diseases.
He noted that HIV remains their biggest challenge given that the biggest number of their population is youth, “an age group that highly wants to enjoy life” but also considering the high rate of poverty amongst young girls which has promoted sexual activities.
According to him, they have a registered number of people living with HIV/AIDS of 880.
Uganda has made significant strides in the battle against HIV/AIDS, but challenges persist. According to recent data, Uganda has an estimated 1.3 million people living with HIV, making it a critical public health concern.
Family Medical Point says that despite progress in prevention and treatment, efforts to address stigma, discrimination, and access to care remain focal points in the national response.
World AIDS Day:
The Day is observed annually on December 1st, serving as a global opportunity to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and commemorate those who have lost their lives to the epidemic. The day provides a platform to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and advocate for increased access to prevention, treatment, and care services.
