STDs rise among communities along Northern Bypass

Medical personnel contracted by Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to provide mobile medical services to communities living near the Kampala Northern Bypass report a high rate of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among residents.

Ms Evelyn Agineg a health worker from Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre says topped the list of diseases they have diagnosed and treated since the project started in 2015.

Out of the 4,000 people they have tested since 2015, at least 500 had STIs.

She attributed this to poor sanitation among residents most especially those who share toilets.

“We have tried to sensitize them how to keep good personnel hygiene and also treated them. We have also referred some complicated cases we have failed to treat to Nuguru teenage centre for further treatment,” Ms Agineg says.

Agineg says the problem is high among women of child bearing age and warns that if not treated, it can lead to bareness, arising from complications such as Pelvic inflammatory disease.

She was speaking at a health camp in Kalerwe yesterday.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the female reproductive organs. It usually occurs when sexually transmitted bacteria spread from your vagina to your uterus, fallopian tubes or ovaries.

Other common diseases in those communities included ulcers and back pain, which she says are caused by irregular eating and carrying heavy loads.

Agineg calls upon the ministry of health to design attracting messages directed to different communities about prevention of STIs.

Ms Kate Kwagala, a resident at Kalerewe says it will be hard for the officials to rule out infections in their area because people share toilets.

“In a day, over 50 people share a single toilet. Though the public toilets are cleaned daily, the number of users is quite high,” Ms Kwagala says.

Ms Jane Mwirumubi, the Executive Director of Family Rescue Initiative- Uganda attributed the high prevalence of STDs to the increasing number of sex workers in the area.

“When a road is under construction, prostitution tends to increase, because sex workers also tend to migrate in search of more clients. We have however tried to prepare the communities on overcoming such challenges,” she says.

UNRA started expansion of the Kampala Northern-Bypass in  December 2014, to turn the road into a dual-carriage route from Bweyogerere (around Mandela stadium) to Busega round-about.