Serving Uganda’s Key Populations and Priority Populations with Diligence and Dedication: A Vignette Project- Part (1)

Serving Uganda’s Key Populations and Priority Populations with Diligence and Dedication

Pain Relief for People Living with HIV And a Nuanced Care Continuum

Living long with HIV comes with its consequences. A group of 13 beneficiaries that we have supported, shared with us stories that surprised us even after all these years caring for Persons Living with HIV.

One of them revealed that at one time she contemplated committing suicide because she experienced excruciating pain in the back, feet, and arms. She did not reveal this immediately until after a time when we were having a casual talk on smells, scents, and taste.  She just dropped a nugget out of which I probed harder. She remarked that she would have appreciated the smells, scents, and taste of food if only the intense pain she felt was not a bother. That is when we made plans to her to care where she was given pain killers to be taken every three hours. She began to fill better after 6 months but was told she would have to take the pain-relievers for a long time. This meant we had to provide Quality Living and Survival Literacy Sessions to empower her. In the process she revealed twelve other people going through a similar experience. We reached out to them and decided for them to receive the same care she had got.

To receive this kind of care means, providing transport, ensuring they take the medication on time on top of the ARVs, have stable housing, secure food/nutrition, have an income generating activity, are part of the wider support system and continue accessing Guidance and Counselling. Several months later, we were introduced to many others who had substance, injecting and alcohol addiction issues as a way of coping with pain and isolation.

Living long with HIV is a learning process. No one is prepared enough for the trajectories but when one has developed an empathic approach to care, one can at least do the minimum to provide interventions. We work in the harm reduction area too, so we had to contact and work with Detoxication and Rehab homes to cater for 25 youths living with HIV who needed medically assisted therapy; methadone management; and constant support supervision. This means visiting the Rehab homes regularly to ensure the connections stay and to keep them motivated.  We have not done everything we could have liked to according to the standard of care because we do not have the resources, but we know that the little we do is basic and done with steadfastness. If only we had the angel investors, allies, friends, and well-wishers to support our work, we would be reaching out with bespoke interventions.  Working with the gay, lesbian, trans, GNC and those who are often shunned, misjudged, and mistreated – regardless of the quality of their virtues – which are often heroic, has opened our eyes too so many nuances in Uganda. According to the UNAIDS, progress against HIV/TB/Malaria is fragile in many countries and acutely inadequate among key populations globally and among priority populations, such as children and adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa. A range of social, economic, racial and gender inequalities, social and legal environments that impede rather than enable the HIV/TB/Malaria response, and the infringement of human rights are slowing progress in the HIV response and across other health and development areas. These need to be addressed as a collective effort and with the focused intention to heal.