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AIDS wipe-out predicted for fishing villages

    JOHANNESBURG

    Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture says HIV/AIDS is threatening "total annihilation" of the country's fishing industry.

    The local New Vision newspaper quoted the Commissioner of Fisheries, Dick Nyeko, as saying: "The rate at which AIDS is making inroads in the fishing communities is alarming."

    A study conducted at Kasenyi Landing Site on Lake George last year found 81 percent of the people who accessed voluntary counselling and testing facilities to be HIV-positive.

    The Ugandan AIDS Commission estimates that HIV prevalence among fishermen is three times higher than the national average, which stands at between 6 to 7 percent.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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