Berbera Community Conversation on Gender Inequalities and HIV& AIDS

Getting Tested Is First Step In Controlling HIV/AIDS
This man is giving a free HIV test as part of National HIV Testing Day, June 27, 2013, in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP Photo/David Goldma
The International AIDS Conference is being held this week (July 18 a 22) in Durban, South Africa. It is the largest conference on HIV related issues.
A diagnosis of HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. There is no cure but improvements in treatments have made the disease manageable. But it is only manageable if those infected can get treatment.
Getting tested for HIV is simple and fast. Results come in j
A man calling himself Rigo is also at the site. He is there to be tested. He says "It is important because one never knows what is going on with their partner" or partners in the past.
A woman is also getting tested. She says, "For me it's very important to do an HIV test because we take care of our family and friends. Because if you don't know, how would you know if you are infecting a loved one?"
HIV/AIDS is both treatable and preventable. People who have the AIDS virus can live normal lives as long as they stay on treatment.
Tom Frieden is director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says the number of AIDS cases has gone down in most parts of U.S. society.
“We've seen huge decreases in heteros*xual transmission -- more than two-thirds -- 80% reductions, generally. We've seen the huge decreases in injection drug use as a cause of transmission. But among young men who have s*x with men, we've seen increases in HIV infections.”
Rodney McCoy is Program Coordinator and Health Educator at NovaSalud. He says the numbers show that in the U.S. gay and bis*xual Latino men are most at risk. He adds that there are similar trends among African-Americans.
"Women of childbearing age and young, black, gay and bis*xual men seem to most at risk for HIV, for new cases of HIV infections. And then when we look at who progresses from HIV on to AIDS, again blacks and Latinos are most at risk for that."
McCoy says openly recognizing that there is a stigma connected to HIV/AIDS is an important first step.
"The first thing we do is we acknowledge that there is a stigma."
A stigma is a disapproving and often unfair belief that a society or group have about something. The power of stigma keeps people around the world from being tested and getting treatment.
Rodney McCoy and other public health professionals say HIV testing has to become a usual part of health care.
"If you go to the doctor to get your blood work for cholesterol, for high blood pressure. Why not start including HIV and STDs?"
The goal everywhere is to get to the point where:
90 percent of those with HIV know it,
90 percent of the infected get treatment and
90 percent of those people reduce the virus in their blood so much that it can't be found.
The theory is that this will end AIDS as a global public health threat by 2030.
Iam Anna Matteo

Xog ogaal kanoqo fayraska HIV&AIDS.

http://www.thebody.com/LBLN/living-with-hiv/9-persistent-myths-about-hiv.html?ap=2009P

9 Persistent Myths About HIV An HIV/AIDS diagnosis is not a one-way ticket to a shorter lifespan. This was not true in the earlier days of the epidemic when there was little to no treatment available, but the advent of effective antiretroviral therapy in the late 1990s has changed all this.

''Kufsigu waa dhaqan xumo iyo akhlaaq xumo'' Diintuna waxay iska taagtay meel adag ka fogow intaan ka fogaan karto waa camal shaydaane- Sh. Ahmed M. Ali

DIGNIIN IYO DARDAARAN- Talo Caafimaad.
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Bulshada da'yarta u badan waxan u sheegaynaa inay iska ilaaliyaan sinada oo ilaahay xaaraantinimeeyey. Raga xaasaska lehna waxan u sheegaynaa inay ku kaaftoomaan reerohooda. waayo waxayno joogno qarni uu jiro fayraska inta badan ku fida galmada aan loo meel dayin.

Qof wuxu fursad haystaa inta oo ka fog yahay Sinnada. Dhowrsoonantu waa habka kaliya ee looga digtoonan karo inuun fayrasku jidhkaaga soo galo.

Xanuunkani wuxu galaaftay aduunyada dadban, balse iminka waxa laga gaadhay horumar. hadii qofka dheecaankiisu gaadho fayrasku ama uu shakiyo waa inuu deg deg u tagaa xarumaha caafimaadka si uu u ogaado xaaladiisa caafimaad. h**e u ogaansha caafimaadkaagu wuxu ku siinaya inaa la noolaan karto.

Lamaanaha xanuunka la nool ee daawada si joogta ah u qaataa waxay haystaan fursad ay ku dhali karaan caruur fayow. wixi faah faahin ah ee dheeraad ah la tasho Dr. ama Xarunta cafimaad ee kuugu dhow.

ALLAA MAHAD LEH.

Xaalada Fiditaanka Caabuqa HIV&AIDS oo Hoos u dhacay Berbera WHO sarfay ay Samaysay 2014.

WHO HIV Sentinel Surveillance Survey Findings Summary:
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HIV sentinel surveillance among selected populations such as pregnant women, s*xually transmitted infection (STI) and Tuberculosis (TB) patients has been practiced by many countries to monitor trends of their HIV/AIDS epidemics. It has provided countries with data evaluate and improve their
HIV/AIDS responses. In 2014, once again, the World Health Organization (WHO) Somalia office, with financial support from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), and in collaboration with Somaliland Health Authorities and AIDS Commission, conducted another round of HIV sentinel surveillance.
Objectives
The objectives of the survey were to:
i. Determine the sero-prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at the selected sentinel sites.
ii. Determine the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at the selected sentinel sites.
iii. Determine the sero-prevalence of HIV infection among patients with symptoms of s*xually transmitted infections (STIs) attending Hargeisa Group Hospital OPD STI clinic.
iv. Determine the sero-prevalence of syphilis infection among patients with symptoms of STIs attending the Hargeisa Group Hospital OPD STI clinic.
v. Determine the sero-prevalence of HIV infection among TB patients attending the selected TB sentinel surveillance sites.
vi. Compare the HIV point prevalence in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2014 in Somaliland to determine trends
Methods
The linked anonymous testing approach was used in conjunction with rapid HIV and syphilis testing, and patients received pre and post-test HIV counseling, got their results shortly after blood was
drawn. Names and other identifying details were not captured on the survey documentation.
Blood samples were collected from 2, 550 pregnant women at six MCH sentinel clinics, 250 STI patients at Hargeisa Group Hospital, and 267 smear-positive tuberculosis patients at Borama, Burao
and Hargeisa TB hospitals.
By and large, the sentinel sites were the same sites that had participated in the preceding 2004, 2007 and 2010 sentinel surveys. The exception to this was Daami MCH that had not participated in the 2004 survey, and Las Anod central MCH which had been omitted from the 2004 and 2010 surveys because of security challenges. The samples from pregnant women and STI patients were tested for both HIV and syphilis, while those from TB patients were only tested for HIV . The HIV
testing strategy adopted was serial assay testing using Colloidal Gold, Determine, and Unigold HIV test kits in that order, with positive HIV results requiring reactivity with all three test kits. The SD Bioline 3.0 syphilis rapid test kit was used for syphilis testing. Quality control involved re-testing of all positive samples and at least 20% of the negatives. Demographic data and samples from the participants were collected from the 18thof January to 17thJune 2014 for STI patients, from the 18thof January to the 1st
of July 2014 for pregnant women. TB:___
Findings
A: Pregnant women HIV
1. The median HIV sero-prevalence among pregnant women at the six sentinel sites was 0.71%, with the mean at 0.67%9
2. The HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15-24 years was 0.48%.
3. We could not demonstrate any statistically significant correlation between being HIV seropositive and age, marital status, the number of wives in the marriage for the married,
educational attainment, and duration of residence in the area.
4. There were statistically significant declines in HIV sero-prevalence at Berbera, Borama and Daami MCHs, while trends at Burao, Hargeisa Central and Las Anod were not statistically
significant.
5. There was also a statistically significant decline in the aggregated mean HIV prevalence for the sites that had together taken part in the sentinel surveys between 2004 and 2014. These were Berbera, Borama, Burao, Hargeisa central and Daami MCHs.
Syphilis.
6. The median syphilis sero-prevalence among pregnant women at the six sentinel sites was 1.37%, with the median at 1.17%.
7. As in the previous two sentinel surveys, Borama MCH had the highest syphilis sero-prevalence among the Somaliland sentinel sites, while Burao continued to show no sero-positive cases for the third survey running. The reasons underlying this pattern remain unclear.
8. At 1.79% syphilis sero-prevalence was significantly higher among those with no formal education, as compared to those who had some formal education regardless of the level of attainment, 0.39%, p=0.0045 Fisher exact test. 10
9. There were no demonstrable statistically significant associations between being syphilis seropositive and age, marital status, and number of wives in the marriage. A shorter duration of residence came close to being significantly associated with being syphilis sero -positive (p=0.051)B: STI patientsHIV
10. The HIV prevalence among the STI patients at the sentinel site was 1.60%. By gender, the prevalence was 2.63% among males and 0.74% among females, although the difference was not
statistically significant (p=0.334).
11. There was no demonstrable statistically significant correlation between HIV sero-prevalence and gender, age, marital status, formal education or duration of residence in the area, for STI patients. However, this may have had to do with the low number of HIV positive patients, which could not allow robust correlative analysis, once stratified by the various demographic variables.
12. The trend of decline in HIV prevalence to the rate of 1,60% among STI patients at this site was an even more emphatic statistically significant drop from the high of 12.3% in 2004 , through the 7.0% found in the 2010 survey, p=0.00167 Chi square for trend.SYPHILIS
13. The syphilis sero-prevalence among the STI patients was 4.40%. By gender, the prevalence was 3.68% for females and 5.26% for males although this difference was not statistically significant.
14. The syphilis sero-prevalence was significantly higher among those who had resided in the area for less than five years, 9.52%, as compared to those who had been resident for longer, at 0.69%, p=0.000928, Fisher Exact test.
15. Owing to inadequate details in earlier sentinel survey reports, it was only possible to analyse the statistical significance of the change in the syphilis sero-positive rates between the 2010 and this 2014 survey. The analysis showed a statistically significant drop in syphilis sero-prevalence among STI patients from 12.5% in 2010 to 4.4% in 2014, p=0000025, Fisher’s Exact test.
Recommendations
1. While the statistically significant decline in prevalence among Pregnant women at half of the ANC sentinel sites, and among STI patients at Hargeisa group hospital is encouraging, any celebration of these trends needs to take into account the fact we are still ignorant about behavior and infection levels among most of the key populations at risk where the infection could be continuing to spread.
2. Furthermore, Somaliland still hosts three of every 5 patients living with HIV among the three Somali zones. Therefore, HIV prevention, care and treatment efforts in Somaliland need not let up, but rather should be continued, strengthened and better targeted to reach those who need them the most.
3. Additional sentinel surveillance surveys for pregnant women and patients with STIs in Somaliland should be conducted to clarify further on the trends of HIV in the zone, to monitor that the apparent gains are being consolidated and even expanded.
4. There is urgent need to conduct bio-behavioral surveillance studies among key populations at risk beyond the s*x workers in Hargeisa. This would provide much missed clarity on the state of the epidemic among these critical groups. These groups become even more critical in the face to the evidence of declining HIV prevalence in the general population proxy sentinel population of the pregnant women.
5. Operational research should be conducted to shed light on the repeated pattern of the highest syphilis positive rates among pregnant women in Somaliland being at Borama, and the absence of syphilis positive cases among pregnant women at the Burao MCH.
6. Bio-behavioral studies to provide clarity on the drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Somaliland should also be conducted. There is hardly any documentation of risk behavior in the Somali context. Such information is vital to ensuring that behavioural change communication messages are always well tailored to the actual behaviours and beliefs prevailing among the various
section of the vulnerable and at risk population sub groups.
7. Syphilis remains an infection with higher sero-prevalence than HIV/AIDS in Somaliland. The ongoing scaling up of activities for prevention/ elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV should be strengthened to include ensuring the uninterrupted availability of syphilis screening for all pregnant women, along with the required treatment for those found infected.
8. Services for syndromic management of STIs need to be scaled up, with HIV counseling and testing being part and parcel of such a scale up. In addition, the services should include s*xual partner tracing, HIV counseling and testing and treatment, as means to interrupt risk behavour.
where it has not yet resulted in HIV infection, and to detect HIV infection early for prompt
initiation of HIV care and treatment.
9. Considering its central and critical location on the trade routes linking Somaliland, Puntland and
South Central Somalia, HIV prevention efforts in Burao need to be stepped up to ensure that
there too the epidemic comes demonstrably under control. Rapid spread of HIV to the hitherto
still less affected hinterland, including the parts of South Central Somalia th at remain difficult to
access for HIV/AIDS interventions, needs to be prevented by all means.

''Hablaha iyo Wiilashuba way u simanyihiin inay waxbartaan. Hooyo iyo Aabo kastana waxa ku waajib ah inay u cadaalad falaan ubadkooda. Diin iyo dhaqan wanaagsan midna maaha in ubadka loo kala eexdo haday tahay waxbarasho iyo horumarkaleba. Sidaas waxa tidhi hooyo ku nool xaafada daaroole'' Amina

''In Bulshadu iswaydiiso dhibaatooyinka haysta isla markaana ay iyagu waa Bulshada'e Xalka raadiyaan waa talaaabooyinka lagu hourmaro''
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Kulanka wadasheekaysiga bulshadu wuxu ka mid yahay kulamada bilaha ah ee ka qabsoomaha xaafada wadajir ee magalaada Berbera. Waxa lagu lafa guraa dhibaatooyinka bulshada xaafada kunool haysta. Waxa kulamadan daadihiya fududeeyayaal loo soo tababaray in ay bulshada ku hagaan oo hanuuniyaan tubta toosan. Waxa lagu lafaguraa dhibaatooyinka caafimaad ee jira iyo sidii looga hortagi laha. Maalinta waxay bulshada Wadajir lafa gurayeeen sababaha sahli kara in xaanunka HIV & AIDS uu ugu dhex fido karo bulshada. Waxa lay isu qaybiyey kooxo si koox waliba uga soo doodo arimaha xanuunka HIV&AIDS ku fidi karo.

Waxay bulshadu hoosta ka xariiqeen arimahan:
1)Galmada: (sinada iyo gogol dhaafka ah) iyadoon la adeegsan waxa kala ilaaliyaha dheecaanada laba qof ee isug tagaya.
2) Dumaasha: Hadii aad guursado gabadh wallalkaa ka dhintay adigoon ogayn sababta uu u dhintay waxa fudud inuu kugu dhaco caabuqa aydhisku.
3) Maandooriyaha: Maandooriyaha uu ka mid ka yahay QAADku wuxu sahlaa in qof uu ku dhacco macsiyo oo sinaysto. sinaduna waa 90% habka la isugu gudbiyo xanuuunkaas.

Wa bilaahi towfiq.
Waxa kulamadan soo abaabula YOVENCO.

Waa Kulamada wadasheekaysiga Bulshada oo ka socda xaafada Barwaaqo ee magalada berbera. kulamadan waxa lagu lafo guraa arimaha bulshada iyo horumarkeeda. kulanka waxa maalintaas ka qayb galay macalin Faisa. waxanu ku saabsanaa sidii looga hor tagi lahaa dib u dhaca bulshada iyo waxyaabaha sababa. Waxa kulankan ka soo baxay dhamaadkiisa:

1) In Hooyooyinku Uurka lihi ku xidhmaan xarumaha caafimaadka
2) in Qof kasta oo xanuusanayaa tago goobaha caafimaadka
3) In si loo helo bulsho caafmaad qabta caruurta iyo dhalinyarada laga waaniyo fusuqa iyo macsiyadaha sababi kara in mustaqbalkoodu mugdi galo- Sida HIV&AIDS, uurka meherka ka h**eeya iyo tahriibta.

Wuxu kulan aad looga soo qayb galay ilaa 50 qof oo dumar u badan baa goob joog ahaa.

Kulankani wuxu ka mid yahay kulamada wadasheekaysiga bulshada ee lagag hortagayo arimaha dib u dhaca lamaanaha: Sida Warbarashada, shaqada iyo shaqaalaha, ganacsiga iyo hantida. waxa dumarka lagu dhiiri galiyey inan hablohooda waxbarashada ula dadaalaan.