Summary:
This campaign supports adolescent girls, young women, and boys in small developing towns and cities in Northern Uganda, where HIV/AIDS infection rates are high currently. We aim to enhance healthcare access, increase education and awareness, support gender equality, promote economic opportunities, and provide protection for vulnerable populations.
Challenge:
Despite Uganda achieving success in HIV/AIDS prevention and control over the years, bringing down the HIV prevalence from 18% in the 1980s to 5.1% now, the incidence of HIV in 2024 has risen sharply, with women having a higher rate of infection (6.5%) than men (3.6%). Prevalence among older teenagers and young adults is nearly four times higher in females than in males.
It’s against this background that Vital Roots Initiative offers its support to these communities in small, developing towns that face significant challenges, often exacerbated by limited resources, socio-economic factors, and social stigma. Through the “Engaging Supportive Initiatives to Address Rising HIV/AIDS Infections in Towns in Northern Uganda” campaign, we aim to mitigate the alarming increase in infection rates by implementing comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, and support programs, enhancing community health and resilience.
Solution:
• Expanding and improving rural healthcare access, training frontline village health workers, and ensuring a consistent supply of ART drugs.
• Implementing community outreach and education programs to dispel myths, reduce stigma, and promote safe practices.
• Supporting gender equality, promoting economic opportunities for women, young girls, and boys, and offering protection for vulnerable populations.
• Strengthening Confidentiality Measures by ensuring anonymity in testing and treatment to encourage more people to seek care without fear of exposure.
• Continuously Increasing government and non-governmental organization (NGO) support for both preventive and treatment initiatives tailored to the specific target groups
Long-Term Impact:
The project will train and support over 100 village health workers around small towns to monitor and support HIV/AIDS patients. This includes providing refresher training and equipping them with work equipment. Also, the project looks at supporting over 200 vulnerable groups of women, young girls, and boys on psychosocial and economic aspects, and we hope to prevent and curb the infection effect.
