Uganda's lack of HIV and AIDS education and prevention programs took its toll on the country's latest statistic covering the deadly infection. A survey that tested sex workers in the capital Kampala found out that female sex workers are four times as likely to carry the virus as other residents of the city.

The study tested 1,027 women and found that 37% of them were HIV-positive, 13% had gonorrhea and 10% suffered from syphilis. The average HIV-infection rate in Kampala is only 8.5%.

Because of the illegal standing of sex workers in Uganda, it is increasingly hard for health services and educators to reach the women in dire need of HIV services. The women refrain from using medical services in hospitals for fear of rumors starting about their possible conditions. Many NGOs have failed to get through to sex workers because of their rejection of any kind of authority, triggered by physical abuse and rape carried out by police.

Peer Education could help tackle the problems of HIV education in Uganda, says Catherine Nandago of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders' Initiative for Community Action on AIDS. The program recruits former and present sex workers that educate their peers about STD-screenings, counseling, retrovirals and condoms.

Promoting the use of condoms remains a problem since unprotected sex is worth around ten times as much as protected sex in the city's red light districts. Sex workers, their clients and their client's partners make up 10% of all new infections in Uganda.

The study will be published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.