East African Gazette
Kampala
Simon Otim, 24, who was born with HIV, and being supported by AIDSs Information Centre, Soroti district, narrates the stigmazation against him started high school when his fellow students asked him why he was regularly taking medicine. That forced him to abandons his medication in fear of his colleagues knowing that he was HIV positive.
” The AIDS Support Organization TASO used to come over to bring my medication and at one-time l decided to hide from them so l got off my medicines. It was at this point that l was hit by Tuberculosis,” he said.
In 2018 Otim revealed his status and at this point he lost all his friends who did not want to associate with him and who used to stigmatize him.
Hadad Nuwagaba, a student at Mbarara University doing bachelor of Arts in ICT wondered how he acquired HIV since none of his parents have the virus.
It was at the age of 11 years when he came to know his status. He however received discrimination from home, his real family separating utensils which he used like the cups and plates
“My cup, plate, basin and everything that belonged to me was separated from others. I was also given food earlier than my siblings, something which didn’t go well with me,” Nuwagaba narrated.
He reveals that at the age of 14 years he was taken to his grandmother; he got tired of ARVs and asked his grandmother about his mother.
According to MOH statistics, Uganda has a population of over 44 million people including 1.4 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) with 1.2million people on ART. Due to the excellent progress that has been made towards the UNAIDS “95-95-95” 2025targets, 81% of the population are aware of their HIV status,96% of these on ART, of which 92% are virally suppressed.
And with the above, over the years, the Uganda HIV prevention response has registered considerable progress and there have been significant improvements in the reduction of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS-related causes. These achievements have been the result of the scale-up of HIV combination prevention interventions, including structural, behavioral and biomedical interventions.
Despite these achievements however, challenges remain, including high levels of new infections among Young People especially adolescent girls and young women, and low involvement of men in HIV programs.
Out of the estimated 1.4 million people living with HIV, those 15 to 24, constitute over one hundred and fifty thousand burdens. And when you look at new infections, fifty-two thousand new infections that occurred in 2022, young people 15 to 24 constituted about nineteen thousand of those, giving about 37% of this burden,” he said.
It is against this background that state minister for youth and children affairs Dr. Balaamu Barugahara warned people who are in the habit of stigmatizing HIV positive people, saying the tendency dehumanizes the humanity of the people.
“If you find anybody discriminating against you, do not hesitate to let me know I will die with him. People living with HIV should not be subjected to stigmatization, they are human beings like anybody else,” Barugahara said.
Barugahara was delivering a keynote address on Wednesday at Hotel African during the launch of the annual Y+ Summit 2024, by the Uganda Network of Young people Living with HIV/AIDS (UNYPA).
He hailed UNYPA, which is as youth-led organization for young people living with HIV countrywide saying, they are doing a commendable job.
Barugahara also urged the young people to start holding decision makers accountable in order to avail positive changes towards policies that protect and empower them.
He stressed the importance of addressing the barriers that prevent the young people from accessing sexual reproductive health services (SRHS) which include stigma and discrimination and lack of access to sex education. “We must empower the young people to take charge of their health, wellbeing and support them to take lead in their communities in issues relating to HIV,” he said.
“HIV is acquired through means which are well known by each one of us. Let us advise and sensitize young people to be careful not to catch it since it is painful to swallow pills each passing day for life.” He noted.
The executive director of UNYPA, Ruth Awori said that her organisation empowers young people living with HIV aged 15-24 with national programs and advocacy including universal access to HIV prevention, provision of SRHR information, treatment, care, and support; fighting stigma and discrimination against all young people living with HIV, and, promoting the greater involvement of all young people living with HIV in the national HIV response
Awori said currently they have 14 registered networks across the country and they also run a Beauty Pageant through which they fight stigma and discrimination.
The summit brought together 150 youth from 17 districts organised under the theme: “Breaking Barrier Bridging Gaps,” focusing on celebrating the successes achieved in prevention, treatment, and support while acknowledging the persistent challenges that demand continued dedication and collaboration.
Since its inception, UNYPA has embodied approximately 3700 young people across the country in collaboration with various stakeholders who include ministry of health, private sectors, NGOs, AIDS Development partners, Health workers among others.
Dr Francis Mikiibi from The United Nations Population Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) –hailed the young people for their resilience saying that the best people to fight HIV are those who have HIV.
He advised the young people to participate in development activities, keep themselves and people around them healthy and productive.
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