SEXUAL NETWORKS IN UGANDA - MIXING PATTERNS BETWEEN A TRADING TOWN, ITS RURAL HINTERLAND AND A NEARBY FISHING VILLAGE

The study was based in south-west Uganda where significant differences in HIV prevalence have been found between urban and rural areas. Long itudinal data collected in a diary format was used to determine the ex tent to which high-risk men and women living in a truck stop/trading t own had sexual contact with people from surrounding rural areas and a nearby fishing village. Study participants were 143 men, 75 of whom we re resident in the town, 40 in a fishing village and 28 in rural areas , and 81 women, of whom 47 were resident in the town, 25 in the fishin g village and 9 in a rural area. During 1687 man weeks the 143 men mad e 3149 trips and had 5189 sexual contacts. Ninety-two per cent of thes e sexual contacts occurred in the man's current place of residence and 21% were with a new partner. The 81 women participated for 1280 women weeks during which they recorded 6378 sexual contacts. Women who live d in the fishing village and the rural area had around 90% of their co ntacts with local men while those who lived in the town fell into 3 ca tegories: women who charged a relatively high price for commercial sex had only 11% of contacts with men living in the town, while those who charged a tenth of the price had 71% of contacts with town men. The s mall number of women who fell into an intermediate category, in terms of price, had sexual contact with a wide variety of men. These finding s show that there is little scope for HIV infection to spread between different residential or occupational groups. This may help to explain how large differences in HIV seropositivity between neighbouring loca lities can be maintained for long periods, despite considerable social and economic mixing between groups and high levels of sexual partner change within groups.