Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

One working in the HIV Prevention & Care Service Delivery in Uganda, will easily note that the CSOs involved experience a milestone disparity as they sprint toward the UNAIDS 95:95:95 goal. Imagine there are two sprinters asked to race forward to the finish line. One has their hands tied and the other is free.   It would be preposterous to expect a victory from the one with the hands tied. KP-Led Organizations in Uganda face cumbersome barriers which they need to go over to be effective. The major question raised by funders is how to maintain ARVs medication to ensure optimal viral suppression in Persons Living With HIV. But, for KP-Led organizations this goal is arrived at after asking vulnerability and susceptibility-related questions. A qualitative analysis of reports from 44 KP-led organizations was done. The aim was to find the underlying subjective characteristics linked to achieving HIV Prevention optimal outcomes. The exercise revealed interesting finding...

Colleagues: This morning the Minister of Internal Affairs released a statement on the verification of NGOs in Uganda.  The statement mentioned that the exercise starts tomorrow - 8 August 2019.  See the statement attached for full details. Please share the statement with your partners and prepare for the exercise.  It is a good idea that Government is working on the verification of NGOs.  The timelines are tight but we shall be sending a letter asking for a meaningful timelines so that we ensure that we have a smooth exercise.

When planning interventions targeting KP, one has to have in mind the need to address effects of latency that arise due to either disownment by parents or a history of being subjected to traumatic abuses. KP, are prone to have trauma comorbidities. In an article  " From Frying Pan To Fire: African Key Populations (KP) In A Dilemma When Provider Bias Stands In The way To Reporting IPV abuse; A Case Of Three African Cities ," Muyunga-Mukasa (2019), makes many insightful findings in Kampala, Mbarara and Nairobi that inform KP-targeting Programmatic Interventions. In the article, he argues that the contexts within which KP grow, develop, socialize and actualize have profound influence on how they turn out in life, how they go into and maintain relationships. In the article, he points out the role of seeking social services to improve quality of life and the role of Providers as decision support catalysts.  The environment has a profound influence on emotional growth which i...

MARPS in Uganda, has helped KP-led Organizations in Uganda access Health information in a readily digestible and usable way. One of the most frequent questions fielded is how to maintain ARVs medication at individual levels. ARV service paths can be divided into the proximate and distal parts.   At the proximate are the immediate causes and processes (factors) such as time for taking prescription, actual taking of a prescription, availability of food or water and no barriers to one’s taking medication. At the distal part are those structural and environmental factors such as price, political conditions, status, stigma, discrimination, harassment, availability of health facilities to ensure refills and regular supply of medicines before stocks run out. But for KPs in Uganda, the case may be different. Some cannot afford housing, cannot afford transport to go to clinics for regular check-ups or refills. The likelihood of facing stigma and discri...

Kampala Gay Newsletter, brings you news about Key Populations in Uganda. President Donald Trump of USA walked the talk and provided PEPFAR funding.  We want to see how this money will be used and we put up a bet.  We want to call President Donald Trump’s bluff. We are not Shit hole Countries and to prove it we are going to spend the money for the purposes of ending HIV in Uganda.  We shall not delay releasing the funds by coming up with non-issue excuses. We shall make sure that all those organizations which get the KPIF money will be diligent,  judicious enough and spend it toward the items stipulated in their proposals. The term Key Populations (KP) encompasses all those population groups in which infections, chronic illnesses, vulnerability and susceptibility to risks has tended to be disproportionate from that of a baseline population. Among KPs, certain infection patterns may be going up while in other populations low incidence (...

Key Populations can now lead activities formulating appropriate HIV Prevention interventions in Uganda.  But, what exactly are these interventions? Presently, there are over 107 KP organizations scattered in all over Uganda. 44 of these are registered with the Uganda KP Consortium. A rapid appraisal of HIV Prevention Strategies of 7 of these between 2018-2020 shows the following: HIV Prevention is about Condom and Lubricant sourcing and distribution Five (5) out seven (7) had conducted internal 3-5 internal meetings or short trainings for staff and during the events tasked the staff to give out Condoms and Lubricant consumables.   Four (4) out of the seven (7) are Kampala-based KP Led organizations, which means they are overlapping in the catchment zone. Two (2) were Kampala-based but had outreach stations 100 miles out of Kampala City PEPFAR And Global Fund, A History: The U.S. is the single largest donor to the Global Fund. Congr...