Uganda: Health Service Providers Worried About HIV Infection Spike in Kalangala

20 June 2023
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Teven Kibumba

Health service providers have expressed worries over the increasing HIV prevalence cases in Kalangala district which they report to be standing at 18% signalizing a 4% increase from 14% recorded in pre Covid era.

This as civil society led by Mifumi Uganda is working tooth and tail to help calm down cases of Gender based and sexual Violence perpetuated onto women and girls in the area.

Kalangala district is one of the areas in the country that have seen shift in the economic stature my marrying Fishing with Palm oil growing.

This has however attracted influx of people into the district, leading to a hype in sexual desires which has seen an increase in HIV prevalence in the district.

According to Jimmy Kazibwe, the in charge Mugoya health centre III, told Nile post that the HIV prevalence have hit 18% away from 14% recorded in the pre Covid era.

This has since worried stakeholders thus drawing their attention to have the cases reduce. Some voices attribute the status to increase in gender and sexual based violence in the area that have to be addressed.

At Mutambala landing site, a toddler was sexually abused by a man when her mother had just moved out of the home to look for what to feed her family.

The civil society Mifumi Uganda has since taken the path of establishing advice centres offering safe space in the community to help GBV survivors.

None the less efforts are made to ensure that the defiled and the sexually abused get justice.

Under the Heroes program Mifumi has extended the Advice centre Model to Kalangala and other 8 districts to help calm Gender based violence that have since affected young girls.

In an interview with Nile post, Ether Abbo told us they provide community-based services for survives of violence and abuse and this because defilement cases are very high in the islands because the fishermen's life style involves a lot of drug abuse and promiscuity

This comes at a time when the country is on the hunt to realize the 2030 agenda of ending HIV, whose effort is likely to be watered down if such cases continue to be reported.

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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