Priotise prevention to curb HIV/Aids - Museveni
President Yoweri Museveni being welcomed by ministers and other officers at Kiswaaga village, Byakabanda Sub County in Rakai District during the commemoration of World Aids Day on Friday, December 1,2023. PHOTO/AMBROSE MUSASIZI
What you need to know:
- Available statistics from the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) show that more than 50,000 people acquired HIV/Aids in the last two years and 17,000 Aids- related deaths per year. These new infections are occurring among young girls and women between the age of 15 to 24 years. This translates into about 25,000 people per year and about 68 per day.
President Museveni has asked Ugandans to exercise prevention as the main strategy and solution in the fight against HIV/Aids.
Presiding over the World Aids Day Commemoration at Kibaale playground in Rakai District on December 1, Mr Museveni said every Ugandan has a duty to guard himself against contracting HIV/Aids and it is possible.
“You should counsel our children from the tender age that even though treatment is available, if they get infected, the virus suppresses their health. So, to get the full potential of their lives, they must avoid this virus. Prevention is the number one solution in our fight against HIV/Aids,” he emphasised
Available statistics from the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) show that more than 50,000 people acquired HIV/Aids in the last two years and 17,000 Aids- related deaths per year. These new infections are occurring among young girls and women between the age of 15 to 24 years. This translates into about 25,000 people per year and about 68 per day.
Mr Museveni said the virus took the country by surprise in the early 1980s because people didn't know how it spreads and wondered why it continues to spread even when more sensitisation has been done over the years .
“Now that we know where it comes from [through sex], why is it continuing to spread? From the data, it seems part of the problem are the young people from the age of 15 plus, who are desperate, and they surrender their lives to people who infect them,” he said
The President re-emphasised the need for school authorities to fully implement free education policy in government schools, saying it will help combat the disease among adolescents aged 15 years and above.
“Statistics show that young people who are not in school are the most vulnerable to HIV/Aids ,this is because parents never listened to our message of free education ,even those who listened are frustrated by head teachers who make them pay fees in government schools,”
“Such fees are the ones keeping children out of school. If you did that, you would liberate these young children from that dependence on other people prematurely. We should take it as one of the Anti-Aids measures. The children from poor homes should go to school and be looked after by the government through free education.” he added.
The day was marked under the theme: "Ending Aids by 2030, Keeping Communities at the Centre”.
He advised the people already living with the virus to live a positive life and regularly take their medicine.
“We lost some soldiers in the Army on Antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs because their bodies weakened due to being overworked. Make sure that while taking the ARVs, you eat well and avoid stressing the bodies,” he said.
Ms Margaret Muhanga, the Minister of State for primary health care, said it is through collective action that the country will overcome the HIV/Aids burden.
“It is in communities that diseases including HIV/Aids infections occur, but it is also in communities where with appropriate message, the disease can be interrupted and stopped. Approximately, 1.4 million adults and children are living with HIV in this country, but working together, we have registered remarkable progress to reduce infections,” she said.
The Director General of Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), Dr Nelson Musoba ,said Uganda has been a pioneer in implementing successful prevention and awareness programmes which has served as a model for other nations.
“The government's commitment, the collaboration with donors has resulted in providing accessible and affordable antiretroviral treatment that has undoubtedly saved countless lives and demonstrated Uganda's dedication to the health and wellbeing of its citizens,” he said.
“Your Excellency, by the end of December 2022, we recorded 52,000 new infections, a slight reduction from again what we reported to you in Rukungiri last year where we told you that we had recorded 54,000 new infections in the previous year (2021) but we can do better because as you have told us, we can get zero new infections. That is the target by 2030.”
