AIDS in Uganda, Uganda aids orphans,Uganda aids statistics,Uganda aids commissionAre you looking for information about AIDS in Uganda? Do you know that Aid has claimed more than 3 million Ugandans since it came to Uganda? On this page we will guide you more on Aids epidemic in Uganda.
It’s believed that AIDS in Uganda came in late 1970s or early1980 and many people died without knowing exactly what was killing them at first. Since those days, Ugandan president has been fighting using all available methods to ensure that Ugandans know how to protect themselves against this scourge. Although AIDS is still killing Uganda; it has reduced to minimum level where it’s no longer a threat as it was in1990s. Uganda was the first country to open a Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) clinic in Africa called AIDS Information Centre and pioneered the concept of voluntary HIV testing centers in Sub-Saharan Africa. •The very high rate of HIV infection experienced in Uganda during the 80's and early 90's created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. Because the need for testing and counseling was great, a group of local NGOs together with the Ministry of Health established the AIDS Information Centre on the 1990 to provide HIV testing and counseling services with the knowledge and consent of the client involved.
I. Both abstinence and monogamy helped to curb the spread of AIDS in Uganda, where HIV infections reached epidemic proportions in the 1980s. The prevalence of HIV began to decline in the late 1980s and continued throughout the 1990s. In fact, between 1991 and 2000, HIV infection rates declined from 21 percent to 6 percent. II. How did this happen? Shortly after he came into office in 1986, President Museveni of Uganda spearheaded a mass education campaign promoting a three-pronged AIDS prevention message: abstinence from sexual activity until marriage; monogamy within marriage; and condoms as a last resort. The message became commonly known as ABC: Abstain, be faithful, and use Condoms if A and B fail.The government also launched an aggressive media campaign using print, billboards, radio, and television to promote abstinence and monogamy. III. Condoms were definitely not the main element of the AIDS prevention message. President Museveni said, "We are being told that only a thin piece of rubber stands between us and the death of our Continent ... they (condoms) cannot become the main means of stemming the tide of AIDS." He emphasized that condoms should be used, "if you cannot manage A and B ... as a fallback position, as a means of last resort."
• Several studies, conducted in Uganda and its neighbors, indicate that adult male circumcision may be a cost-effective means of reducing HIV infection. A review on the acceptability of adult male circumcision indicated across studies, the median proportion of uncircumcised men willing to become circumcised was 65% (range 29-87%). Sixty nine percent (47-79%) of women favored circumcision for their partners, and 71% (50-90%) of men and 81% (70-90%) of women were willing to circumcise their sons. CONCLUSION:Although much effort is put to fight AIDS in Uganda, many people still lack free medical care which the government is singing on radio everyday. One should also put into account that the data about AIDS in Uganda is not accurate as many people in the villages are very poor and they can’t even afford to buy a condom. In some villages, some people are still very primitive that even if one can afford to buy a condom, he sees it as wastage of time to use a condom with a lady who loves him. Therefore, it’s hard to know the extent of AIDS in Uganda as many people are not tasted. But generally comparing the rate people were dying at in 1990s to today, one sees that Aids has reduced tremendously.
|
