Commercial sex workers to form an alliance in Mwanza

Mwanza District Council intends to establish a female sex workers alliance as a way of curbing the spread of HIV and Aids in the border district.

Mwanza District Aids Coordinator, Pearson Mphangwe said this when he updated DACC members of the formation of the grouping.

He said the formulation of the alliance would give sex workers opportunities to share solutions to problems they are facing in the course of their trade.

“Nowadays HIV and Aids activities are focusing on the key population such as female sex workers because they are at high risk of contracting and spreading the virus. We want to put them into groups where they can be discussing ways of preventing the virus as they are doing sex work,” he said.

He said a lot of sexual activities that are happening in the district involve sexual workers hence the formation of the grouping.

Mphangwe said members to the alliance would be female sex workers who are mobile, static and also those who are operating from their homes and have disclosed to the alliance of their sex work.

He however said the establishment of the alliance should not encourage others to engage themselves in the act as it still poses a threat
Mwanza experienced a boom of sex workers in 2013 during the construction of Moartize-Nacala railway line that has passed through the district, according to a 2013 Survey Report on Projects and HIV and Aids.

Meanwhile, Medicines Sans Frontier through a Malawi Model and Key population intervention Project has managed to reach out to 2,427 sex workers and 3,294 truck drivers with HIV services.

Medical Activities Manager for Medicines Sans Frontier, Bote Zamadenga told Mana on Thursday the number of sex workers reached with HIV activities last year has been increasing from 506 in January to 960 in March.

He further said the number of truck drivers that have also been serviced with counseling services has also gone up from 186 in January to 486 truck drivers late last year.

Zamadenga explained that female sex workers and Long Distance Truck Drivers are the main target of the project whose aim is to provide them with tailor made and comprehensive HIV and TB interventions along the corridor.

He said in Malawi the services are provided in three sites namely Mwanza District Hospital, Wellness Center, Mwanza Boarder and Zalewa clinic in Neno district.