hiv/aids
Background
From the beginning, Uganda Village Project has
had special concern for the health issues in the Iganga District that result
from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We have conducted HIV prevention education
projects, held free HIV testing clinics, and worked to support initiatives
in peer education on the topic of HIV/AIDS. This summer, our fabulous HIV/AIDS resource guide group was made up
of 10 students and other young people, including a Ugandan student from
Makerere University. This group faced the difficult
task of traveling to as many locations in the Iganga district as possible to
search for those providing HIV/AIDS-related services. They interviewed 25
different entities in Iganga district providing HIV/AIDS care and support to
produce this resource guide.
Purpose
The purpose of this project was to identify the health centers and
NGOs that were providing services in regards to HIV/AIDS. Uganda, although
repeatedly cited as one of the few East African countries to combat the HIV
epidemic through strict abstinence only programs, is a country with a rising
incidence of HIV infection particularly among the younger population. In
order to assess the types of HIV services provided by the NGOs operating in
Igangatown, Uganda a resource guide was created. The resource guide
lists NGOs and health centers according
to sub-county.
The types of HIV services listed in the guide were the following:
1) Prevention of mother to child transmission – both education and distribution
of the drug Nevirapine
2) Youth Education on prevention of HIV
3) Outreach programs in the form of classes, drama skits, written materials
4) Home-based care
5) Income generating projects
6) Orphan Support
7) Distribution of Anti-retroviral therapy (emphasizing accessibility)
8) VCT – voluntary counseling & testing (emphasizing accessibility)
9) Hospital treatment for HIV patients
The NGOs were inquired on the above services. Additionally, we felt
that it was equally important to actually observe these NGOs in action so to
speak. In addition to the questionnaire we also set aside a separate
guideline for observing. For example, we were taken on home-based care
visits, requested to see the testing kits including the logs of patients
receiving ARVS or Nevirapine. Once these organizations were interviewed and
their activities observed, we compiled the resource guide, translated it
into Muganda and distributed both English and Mugandan copies. A purpose for
the team that developed over time was keeping in contact with these various
NGOs. In the evenings and weekends, our team helped out a local
orphanage (Iganga Self-Reliance Training & Rehabilitation Centre) by
planting for their garden, interacting and spending time with the children,
and supporting their income-generating activities of necklace-making.
Conclusions
The main inadequacy lies in the accessibility of treatment -
transportation fees, lack of doctors/nurses, and CD4 cell count machines
that simply did not work. We were informed that there were 2 CD4 cell count
machines in the entire country and both were broken. According to the WHO,
in order to be put on ARVS, two requirements must be met: CD4 cell count
under 200 and Stage 3 disease diagnosis made by a doctor, not a medical
officer. With the count machines broken, testing kits running low (and as we
were informed, nonexistent for a two month period), and with 1 doctor per
75,000 people, this makes getting patients on ARV therapy a major challenge
in the Ugandan health care system. Many non-governmental organizations based
in the cities of Uganda that address HIV/AIDS issues, as well as other
issues of community health, never conduct investigations into what is going
on in the villages, where there is the least access to care. They do not
know the issues that Ugandan villages face. This is why Uganda Village
Project's philosophy and position are unique. We
feel that there must be more targeted outreach to these villages. The
people living and working in Kampala refuse to go out to the villages because it
is
not ‘modernized’. This is unfortunate considering that the people in most
need are not the ones living in the cities, but the ones in the farms.