News Update on Mary Magdalene Project

21.8.06

Hello from Jos for the latest on what the team has been up to for the Mary Magdalene Project. We are coming to the end of the third month of the project here now, when the testing will wind up and we will begin to seriously analyze the large amount of data generated. Currently we have interviewed and screened 362 women, with an approximate number of 400 hoping to be reached by the end of the month.

The recruiting has taken place over an increasingly wider area around Jos, and Mrs. Barau and Mr. Ayeni have travelled to many different hotels over the preceding weeks. We have had participants from over 40 hotels now, with valuable ties being formed in what has been a thorough sweep of the resident based sex workers in the region.

So far we have treated many of the girls for sexually transmitted infections, with rates of gonorrhoea, syphilis, candidiasis and particularly bacterial vaginosis being high. The disclosure of the HIV and hepatitis results is now close to being fully planned and should begin to take place in the next week. This is obviously more in-depth and an additional counselor has been employed who along with our experienced STI nurse will provide the appropriate way of breaking the result – for many of the sex workers, sadly this will not be good news.

What has become particularly obvious over the course of the study is that the health and plight of these girls has been in many cases seriously neglected. The provision of specific on-going services, including screening, treatment, education and condom promotion is urgently needed. Regardless of the potential benefits of any microbicide, there are issues concerning many aspects of their health that need to be addressed – and quickly. The goodwill and contacts that have been made in the course of this research need to translate into tangible services and care for these women, with the general desire and momentum of attempting comprehensive and practical means of assisting them being fully harnessed.

With this in mind, we are excited to announce the formation of the Mary Magdalene Health Initiative, which encompasses these plans with the overall aim of improving the holistic health of sex workers in Jos and the surrounding area.

The formative and planning stages of this have taken place in the last few weeks as our ideas and thoughts on where to take the valuable information gained from the study have evolved. The crucial stage is now, with the interim before registration, project proposal development and attempts at affiliating with other organizations all depending on keeping positive contact with all the sex workers involved in the study.

Currently we are also conducting a needs assessment trying to ascertain exactly what it is the women themselves want, as it is vital that they and the community are involved every step of the way, in order to empower them to take ownership over a sustainable and relevant concept. For many of the sex workers however, they have been promised all manner of things before, and gaining their trust will be difficult. One way of doing this is to provide them with free services and treatment for them to believe we are serious, and to create a platform on which they will listen to education and condom promotion attempts.

For those with HIV requiring treatment, this is obvious – we need to try and supply anti-retrovirals, in a stigma free environment in which they are comfortable and can have their specific needs addressed. This is only one aspect however, with for example the distribution of free condoms also being incredibly important.

There are of course a number of initial challenges in getting the Mary Magdalene Health Initiative underway, and support, assistance and ideas in any form from people interested would be more than appreciated. We intend to base our design on careful models of best practice and the baseline information gained predominantly from this study. We feel that we have the women’s best interests at heart, and by listening and working with them closely we can hopefully make a positive impact in their lives and others in the future.