The introduction and rapid expansion of a combination of HIV services in four Ugandan fishing communities has led to the significant decline of HIV incidence, new research finds.
The study assessed the uptake and impact of a combination of HIV interventions after they were introduced to four fishing communities in Lake Victoria in 2011.
Around 40% of people in these communities are living with HIV where high levels of mobility, transactional sex, multiple sexual partnerships, and alcohol use drive HIV transmission.
This, coupled with the presence of large proportions of men who tend to access HIV prevention, testing and treatment services less than women, provides a challenging environment for reducing the number of new infections.
The four fishing communities had little access to HIV services before 2011. After 2011 the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Uganda supported the Rakai Health Sciences Program to introduce and expand HIV services in the area. This included a new community-based HIV clinic and mobile camps offering voluntary medical male circumcision.
Also, from 2013 three years before test-and-treat’ was adopted nationally in Uganda anyone from these communities testing positive for HIV was eligible for antiretroviral treatment (ART) regardless of the level of virus in their body.
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