Ugandan Family Planning Association Launches Project To Prevent, Treat HIV, Other STIs
The Family Planning Association of Uganda has launched a two-year, $150,000 project aimed at preventing and treating HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections among commercial sex workers and young people, Uganda's The Monitor reports. According to Elly Mugumya, executive director of FPAU, the project targets young people and sex workers in the Kawempe division of the capital, Kampala. It also will provide no-cost treatment and care for HIV and other STIs, as well as no-cost male and female condoms, Mugumya said. Mugumya added that the project will promote awareness and knowledge building (Nafula/Nalugo, The Monitor, 7/3). The project is the first of its kind in Uganda, according to Mugumya (Xinhua News Agency, 7/3).
According to Mugumya, the program targets sex workers and young people in Kawempe because they are more vulnerable to HIV and other STIs than other groups and have no access to reproductive health services. Kibirige Takuba, a chair for the Kawempe division, said that sex work is a leading cause of the increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the division, adding that 45% of people who received HIV tests last year at two health centers in the division tested positive.
An International Planned Parenthood Federation delegation on Tuesday in a meeting with Ugandan Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga called for better promotion of reproductive health services in the country, The Monitor reports. Kadaga said that reproductive health issues remain a challenge and are not a priority for the government. The project will be supported by IPPF and the Japan Trust Fund, The Monitor reports (The Monitor, 7/3).