Managing for HIV Results in Lungujja Community

By Maxensia Takirambule

In 2009, Lungujja Community Health Caring Organization (LUCOHECO) reached the 4 year mark since its launch as a community service. It is a key moment to highlight the management challenges of achieving results on HIV, restoration of hope to the very ill and social support systems in Lungujja Parish, Uganda.

I formed LUCOHECO in 2005 after being tested as HIV positive in August, 1999, and after the death of my husband four months later. In Uganda, the prevalence of HIV was 5.4% among the population aged 15-49 years in 2007. It is as a result of my personal background and my country’s tragic situation that I set up this initiative to provide awareness, primary health care, treatment and support to those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Psychosocial, spiritual and economic support to the terminally ill patients and their affected families is also provided.

The means to results

In order to meet our objectives, we have developed a strategic action plan that is guided by empirical evidence and oriented towards results. This choice is guided by the fact that we want to ensure that our resources are used effectively when implementing our HIV programs on the ground.

By January 2007, our strategic action plan was representative of the locality and focused on selected priorities. This framework is based on two key assumptions which underpin the objectives and design of the program. It requires a dual approach to the epidemic which focuses both upon behavioral change (preventive strategies) and addresses the structural and contextual factor (mitigating strategies) to effectively combat HIV/AIDS in the sector.

LUCOHECO’s interventions are developed in two phases, with an emphasis on the first 3 years. A small number of selected aims and targets were set for the next years in order to develop and disseminate strategies for rapid adherence to its objectives. Therefore, we chose to build participatory structures from the ground, starting where those who deliver AIDS related services meet the people who receive the services. The community also decided to provide links between national AIDS councils, secretariats and sub-national players, and to reach out to targeted vulnerable groups, including young women and the youth.

The outcomes

As a result, in 2007, LUCOHECO empowered some community members into effective participation in various activities. The organization did that through its 35 Community Health Workers and 20 Community Based Volunteers. A total number of 5,000 patients accessed treatment from the centre. Almost all of them participate in our programs. We have awarded annual HIV champions who raise awareness on the key health issues of this epidemic and coordinate initiatives for behavior change amongst the youth. Thanks to a careful designing and planning phase, we were able to successfully implement our action plan to achieve HIV results in Uganda.

Home based care service in our communities has greatly improved many lives of the very ill. Our national partners now use our pilot work to expand it throughout the country. Our most prevalent partner, The Uganda Community Based Association for Child Welfare (UCOBAC), has already trained more than a hundred care givers and aims at training more than 20,000 people to kick AIDS out of Ugandan Communities.

We strive at forming an alliance to attain recognition, advocate for more resources and reduce the burden on both the care givers and patients who move long distances to access services. We are also looking forward to creating a network that will speak for the voiceless and ensure effective, adequate and trusted service delivery. More support is needed for home based care givers to strengthen their networks towards the mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDs in Africa.

Maxensia Takirambule is the Chief Executive Officer of the LUCOHECO.

This article was also published in the December issue of the AfCoP newsletter.