20091211

Katine residents with HIV/Aids who were forced to stop taking their medication because of severe food shortages in the region are now receiving food rations.

Domitila Apecho, 50, who is HIV-positive, is one of many in the sub-county in north-east Uganda who had difficulties taking her antiretrovirals (ARVs) because she did not have enough food to take them with. ARVs are strong tablets and require those taking them to have a considerable amount of food in their bodies to avoid severe side effects, such as dizziness and vomiting.

But with the food rations now being distributed in the area by the US-based NGO ACDI/VOCA (formed through a merger between Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance), Apecho, a mother of 10 from Ojama parish, said she was confident she could now keep to her treatment cycle.

"I'm happy now that I can be sure of taking my medication because I have enough food. This has been my problem and it was affecting my treatment schedules," she said.

Although Apecho doesn't know when she contracted the virus, she was diagnosed 10 years ago. She believes the food supplies she will now receive every month for a year will help extend her life.

ACDI/VOCA supplies food to people in need for a year to give them enough energy to work and earn money to support themselves.

To qualify for the food rations people have to be registered with TASO, The Aids Support Organisation, the oldest and largest national NGO providing care and relief for people living with HIV/Aids in Uganda. They must also be taking ARVs. In Katine, TASO has introduced ARV distribution centres.

Judith Apio, the NGO's assistant distribution supervisor for the Soroti district, said the amount of food someone receives depends on the size of their household.

Each person receives 7.5kg of corn soya blend multiplied by the number of people in their home, said Apio. Families are also given cooking oil.

The NGO, which receives funding from USAID, USDA and the World Bank, aims to support 42,000 people living with HIV in Lango, Acholi and Teso sub-regions, some of the poorest in Uganda.

"We expanded to Katine sub-county this year after realising that they badly needed our support," said Apio last week as she showed people in the sub-county the different ways the soya blend can be used. The blend can be eaten as porridge, mixed up with local food or sauce, or used to make cookies.

Every month, the organisation has been supplying 300 tons of food to these regions, but recently the rations have proved inadequate because of the rise in the number of people registering with TASO to get supplies.

A sharp rise in food prices and climatic changes that have resulted in devastating floods and drought in the region have caused severe food shortages in parts of Uganda, and elsewhere in east Africa, which are undermining efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and combat HIV/Aids and malaria.

guardian