The economic burden of HIV/AIDS on fishing communities - Kiyindi Landing Site

Abstract

The fisheries sector is an important to the economy of Uganda providing employment, nutrition and revenue to the country. It contributes 2.5% to the national GDP and 12% to the agricultural GDP. However, the sector loses a significant amount of income owing to high prevalence of HIV/AIDS which results in a high economic burden due to HIV/AIDS in fishing communities. Nevertheless, empirical data on the economic burden in monetary value is lacking in fishing communities. In this study, an economic burden in monetary value was established in fishing communities at Kiyindi Landing Site. To empirically establish the economic burden, desktop and document reviews were made, including Pre-ART and ART reviews to estimate the Burden of Disease due to HIV/AIDS using the Disability Adjusted Life Years. The Value of a Statistical Life Year was obtained from VSLY estimates from a study in Sub-Saharan Africa by Patenuade et al., 2019. The product of the DALYs and VSLY gave the economic burden due to HIV/AIDS at Kiyindi Landing site using 2018 as the base year. In the study, the Burden of Disease using DALYs was estimated at 2420.563219 years and the VSLY used was $9340. The economic burden in monetary value was 22,608,060.1946 $/year. The results provide empirical evidence of the high economic burden due to HIV/AIDS in fishing communities