AT the time when Uganda is making great feats against AIDS, fishermen are not part of the good news.

Charlotte Howard, an epidemiologist with Uganda AIDS Commission, said HIV prevalence among fishermen is three times higher than the national average.

She was addressing a workshop on “Reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS on fishing communities in Uganda” in Kampala recently.

She said a study conducted last year on Kasenyi Landing Site on Lake George found 81% of the people who accessed VCT facilities to be HIV positive.

Howard says in 1992, 24% of the fishermen tested on Lake Albert were HIV-positive. “At the time, only about 4% in the nearby agricultural villages were HIV-positive,” she said.

Howard said recorded AIDS cases by end of 2002 show the highest number of AIDS cases in the districts of Masaka, Mpigi and Jinja. All the three are found along Lake Victoria.

Dick Nyeko, the commissioner, fisheries, ministry of agriculture, said HIV/AIDS is decimating fishermen in masses.

“The rate at which HIV/AIDS is making inroads in the fishing communities is alarming. Until we respond urgently, an important economic bloc is at risk of total annihilation,” Nyeko said.

“This compares unfavourably with the national HIV prevalence rates that stands at between 6 to 7 percent,” says Nite Tanzarn of Marine Resource Assessment Group.

Tanzarn says the lifestyle in these communities significantly contribute to the spread of HIV. “Fishing is a dangerous and labour-intensive work, dominated by men. A traditional reward is to drink and have sex when they return,” she says.

Tanzarn says other factors that contribute to the high susceptibility include the high mobility of fishermen and their access to daily cash, which they use to buy beer and women.

Howard said women were particularly vulnerable to HIV because they had limited livelihood. “In such circumstances, they may resort to selling alcohol and peddling sex,” she says.

Unfortunately, even as they wither under the weight of AIDS, these fishing communities remain under-serviced by roads, information, health services generally and AIDS support facilities specifically.

Howard says few of the 700 HIV/AIDS support services operate in fishing communities.

A study of 21 fishing communities last year found that only 17% to 35% of communities had health centres. District hospitals were up to 67km away and could take six hours to reach.

Source: AllAfrica.Com
URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/200507070023.htm…br>