A study aimed at examining the effects on HIV/AIDS on universities in East Africa is scheduled to start in October, Tanzania's The Citizen reports. According to officials at the Inter-University Council for East Africa, the project initially will target 18 universities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The project -- which will cost about $700,000 -- will involve the East African Community through the Lake Victoria Basin Commission. It is receiving funding from the Swedish International Development Agency. According to the project's manager Doreen Othero, the African Medical and Research Foundation also will be involved with the study.

Othero said that the study will run for two months and that it is aimed at examining the severity of HIV/AIDS in university communities in the region. The study will focus on the Lake Victoria basin, which has a higher HIV/AIDS prevalence compared with other parts of the region, according to The Citizen. In addition, the basin has a high population density and is home to numerous cross-border activities, according to Othero. "The survey will provide relevant contextual information, which will be used for determining intervention mechanisms for improvement of management of the problem in the university communities in terms of all aspects of the pandemic," Othero said. IUCEA Executive Secretary Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha said there are concerns that university communities, particularly students and teachers, are highly affected by HIV/AIDS. He added that the project might be expanded to more universities in the future.

Universities currently involved in the study are the universities of Dar es Salaam, Mzumbe, Sokoine, Tumaini, St. Augustine and Muhimbili in Tanzania; the universities of Makerere, Mbarara, Gulu, Islamic, Kampala International and Nkumba in Uganda; and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and the universities of Nairobi, Baraton, Moi, Masinde Muliro and Maseno in Kenya (Ubwani, The Citizen, 7/28).