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HIV/AIDS Prevention, Palliative Care, Orphan and Vulnerable Child Support. |
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Uhakika Kituo cha Ushauri Nasaha (UKUN) is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organization based in Bagamoyo District in the Coastal Region registered under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In 2002, UKUN was formed as a result of research carried out by the Ministry of Health through the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) in collaboration with DANIDA in Bagamoyo District, which revealed that the majority of patients with chronic illness preferred to be treated at home and close to their relatives. Guided by this finding, Bagamoyo community members saw the importance of forming an organization that coordinated efforts toward support and care for its members infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; hence, UKUN was formed.
The overall objective of UKUN is to contribute to the primary prevention of the HIV/AIDS pandemic by caring for HIV/AIDS clients through Home Based Care (HBC) & Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) support programs.
UKUN operates in all 16 wards and 82 villages of Bagamoyo District, with 111 community home based care providers who are serving 1500 People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and 5514 OVC.
UKUN has more than nine years experience in implementing HIV/AIDS projects through a community based project aiming at providing palliative care to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) care and support services to orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) in Bagamoyo district. |
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In Bagamoyo District, as in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS has spawned a vicious social cycle that, unless aggressively addressed, will severely undermine communities for generations to come. As the pandemic kills and disables adult parents, it creates another generation of orphaned and vulnerable children who are either cared for by elder caregivers (grandmothers) or sick mothers. Both elder caregivers and PLHA typically have little to no means of income generation, and this places these OVC in a very vulnerable position. Those orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS typically cannot afford school fees and often are forced to engage in work and sometimes commercial sex to support themselves and their impoverished caregivers. |
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General objective of the project:
To reduce mortality and morbidity due to malnutrition among people affected by HIV/AIDS including Orphans and vulnerable children and improve the well being.
The defined objectives of UKUN are as follows:
1. To increase technical and organizational capacity to deliver community care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children.
2. To promote awareness on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria through information, education and communication.
3. To reduce stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
4. To promote the use of prophylaxis and ITNs in high risk malaria population areas and vulnerable groups.
5. To establish and strengthen effective linkages between UKUN and public and private institutions to provide quality and comprehensive home based care services to people with chronic illness including those with HIV/AIDS.
6. To support local staff to help groups through skill development for income generating activities and help set up HIV/AIDS support networks. |
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Project Strategies:
1. Promote food security among PLHA affected households.
2. Organize long-term community building efforts toward proper resource management and nutritional sustainability.
3. Provide technical assistance and the resources needed for sustainable food.
4. Promote community based nutrition education. |
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UKUN HIV Clinic
