HIV will limit your ability, Museveni cautions youth

President Museveni has asked the youth to avoid reckless lifestyles to live longer.
“Stop giving excuses, this disease [HIV/Aids] is caused by being reckless with your life, because we have seen Ugandans in some parts [of the country], with low prevalence [HIV rates] whereas in other areas, it is very high,” the President said.
“It is true we have medicine to help a person living with HIV live longer. These medicines help reduce the number of people dying from the disease but Aids disables you without dying,” he added.

The President made the remarks during the commemoration of the World Aids Day in Rukungiri District yesterday.
The day was celebrated under the theme; “Ending inequalities among adolescent girls, young women and boys”.
According to the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), about 1.4 million people in Uganda are living with HIV/Aids.
About 54,000 people contract HIV every year, the majority of whom are adolescent girls, boys, and young women.
Statistics from the Aids body also indicate that 17,000 people in the country die of HIV/Aids annually, majority of whom are men who seek HIV treatment and care late. The 17,000 deaths per year is higher than the 2025 target of less than 10,000 deaths per year.
Mr Museveni cautioned that if young people continue getting infected, the country will not be able to utilise its potential.

“The best thing for HIV/Aids is prevention. Avoidance is the best solution because if you get infected, even when we put you on these treatments, there are certain activities which need physical exertion like army work, which you cannot do. Therefore, even when we keep you alive through ARVs, you will have cut off some of your potential, it will be like a person with a disability,” he said.
Mr Museveni expressed concern that parts of the country with low levels of education have less prevalence rate compared to areas with higher levels of education.
“I got scared that in Uganda, 5 percent of people are infected but Kalangala has 16 percent, Rukungiri is 14th in the country at 8 percent. Yet Rukungiri has educated people and religious [groups]. Church of Uganda, Catholics, Muslims, born-agains, where does these 8 percent come from,” the  President wondered.
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Ms Susan Ngongi Namondo, commended Mr Museveni for his continued support in the fight against HIV/Aids.

“Thirty years ago, you created the first Aids Commission in the world. Uganda also supported a vibrant civil society movement led by people living with HIV. That movement has expanded beyond HIV and has also engaged in emerging epidemics such as Covid-19 and Ebola. We honour and applaud you for that leadership,” Ms Namondo said.
“We congratulate Uganda for the significant strides made, Uganda is among 10 countries in Africa that were very close to achieving the UNAIDS 90,90, 90 HIV treatment and testing targets 2020. So all the data has been moving in the right direction,” she added.

The UAC director, Dr Nelson Musoba, said there are more than 1.3 million people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and 95 percent of these are taking medication in the right way.
“We still have a challenge of children between 0 and 14 years who are not accessing treatment and even those on treatment are not adhering due to stigma and discrimination,”  Dr Musoba  said.
He added: “Giving treatment to a single patient on ART and monitoring needs Shs700,000 meaning if we are to offer treatment to the more than 1.4 million, we need Shs980b yet our budget for this year is Shs150b for ARVs only,” he added.