Fishing Life and HIV/AIDS in Lukuba Island of Lake Victoria, Tanzania

HIV infection is very high among the Islands of Lake Victoria of Tanzania. It was revealed that Lukuba Islanders were aware of the presence of HIV/ STIs infections, and aware of condoms use as one of the protection ways from HIV infections. Condoms availability, accessibility and affordability were not a problem on the Island. Nevertheless, condom use realized to be very low and inconsistent among the Island dwellers; alcoholism, cleansing culture, irresponsible sexual behaviors, men dominance in sex decision making and low income among women blamed to fuel the emergence of new STIs infections including HIV. In view of these, there is a need for regular voluntary testing,counseling and treatment for STIs and provision of ARVs to people living with HIV, and rethink of designing messages promoting condom use that reflects the contextual hindrances to condom use in these communities. In these regards, there is a need of enhancing HIV/AIDS and STIs outreach preventions interventions using water-boat mobile clinics. This should go hand in hand with empowering women in order for them to have negotiation capabilities in sex relations and take legal action in case they are sexually abused

Autorentext

Maseke R.Mgabo is a Medical Sociologist and Anthropologist graduated from University of Makerere.He has a field experience of over 12 years. His major interests rest in Health and Development,Health promotion, Project Management, Sustainable Rural Development, Group Dynamics, Communication and Behavior Changes and Evaluating development projects