Lecturer, Department of Training, Research and Consultancy, Kenya School of Government, Baringo Campus, Kenya

The study set outto analyze the relationshipbetween fishing activities and HIV/AIDS and the impact of the institution-al framework in the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS in Mfangano Island. The people of this Island are grappling with one of the most critical concentrations of HIV/AIDS in Kenya. With a near monopoly of fishing as the sole economic activity, the island’s population has developed risky social behaviour influenced by fishing activities, especially during high fishing seasons. There is an eminent gap between the acknowledged broad range of institutional framework for the combat of HIV/AIDS and the failure to deal with the problem of the scourge in a comprehensive manner in such a uniquely isolated fishing community. Themajor rationale is that, for there to be prospects for a more robust preventive and control measures in the management of HIV/AIDS in the fishing community, there is need to improve on the existing institutional framework by decentralizing the obli-gations of the Constituency AIDS Control Committee (CACC) up to the fishermen’s “access point”. Consequently, increasing the Beach Management Units’ (BMUs’) capacity to perform any HIV/AIDS preventive and management tasks will ensure alleviation of the spread of the menace. Thebroad objective was to investigate factors that have influenced the spread of HIV/AIDS in Mfangano Island and how fishing activities have contributed towards this menace. The specific objectives were: to explore therelationship between fishing activities and HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Island; advance theunderstanding of the pertinent factors responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Island; and finally, assess the impact of relevant stakeholders in fishing industry in the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS scourge in the Island. The theory posits the existence of a national institutional framework for prevention and management of HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The framework asserts that there is need for recognition of the importance of community involvement in the continuum of case for persons infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; the grass-roots level for the framework being the CACC.The study reviewed secondary data on the extent of HIV/AIDS infection, basing its analysis on Mfangano Island as a case study. Questionnairesand interview schedules were administered toseventy (70)re-spondents while vital and in-depth information to explore details on how fishing activities impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Island was gathered through five (5) focus group discussions. The study observed that HIV/AIDS preventive strategies are predicated on the general information on factors influencing the spread of HIV/AIDS and structured on the national strategic framework to combat the epidemic. The study underscores the challenges to HIV/AIDS prevention among the fishermen and concludes by recommending areas where further research is needed to enhance effective measures on the same.

Fishing, HIV, AIDS

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