KAMPALA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The International Rescue Committee(IRC) , a
NGO operating in the war-ravaged northern Uganda, has come up with new
strategies to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in refugee camps, Daily Monitor
reported on Tuesday.
The IRC's senior HIV/AIDS officer, Esther Opoka, was quoted assaying that
they had introduced Home-based HIV Counseling and Testing (HBHCT) and Mobile
Voluntary Counseling and Testing Outreaches.
The two approaches introduced to Internal Displaced Person (IDP)camps in
Kitgum and Pader districts are meant to supplement the traditional Voluntary
Counseling and Testing (VCT) and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of
HIV (PMTCT).
Opoka said IRC's new strategies would help bridge gaps left by VCT and
PMTCT.
"We are trying to look at the resource constraints area like northern
Uganda where it is expensive to open up new VCT centers in the IDP camps," she
said.
HBHCT involves moving from home to home, educating and testing their HIV
status and immediately giving them the results.
"The new strategies give more confidentiality when you go to somebody's
home than clients going to the centers where everybody sees them," Opoka said.
Enditem
