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Uganda AIDS Rate At Six Percent - New Vision Web -23/9/2003
UGANDA attributes the reduction of its HIV prevalence from 18 to 6 per cent to a multi-sectoral approach adopted by President Yoweri Museveni and the citizens.
Museveni was commended for the openness with which he disseminated hard scientific facts in a simple manner to the masses on the impact of the scourge
Uganda�s Minister in charge of the Presidency, Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, said unlike the fears that influenced other African countries, Uganda had nothing to lose politically or economically by admitting that the Aids pandemic had ravaged the country.
"Museveni went to the villages himself and posed to the people figurative questions such as �if you go into a field and see an anthill full of holes, and then you put your hand in one of the holes and get bitten by a snake, whose fault is it?�" Kivejinja told the 13th International Conference on Aids and STIs in Africa (Icasa) at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre yesterday.
He said Museveni�s candi
dness
generated a "most integrated, holistic response that dealt with the complex realities of the scourge".
"We soon acknowledged that Aids was not just a health sector emergency, but had also social and economic repercussions," said the minister. "We realised that in order to effectively inform the public, we required participation by other sectors beyond health."
This, said Kivejinja, was the reason Uganda placed the coordination of HIV/Aids activities in the Office of the President.
He also attributed the success of the Aids prevalence drop to elimination of the stigma associated with the disease and discrimination of HIV/Aids patients.
"Equipped with knowledge about how to avoid disease and death, rational people usually change their behaviour accordingly," explained Kivejinja. "These, coupled with reforms in all sectors to rebuild our shattered country and the Abstain or Be Faithful to a Faithful Spouse and Condom Use (ABC) theory did the magic."
He added
that
Ugandans have looked for home-grown solutions to the pandemic with coordination of all anti-Aids activities being done by the Office of the President.
However, he said, the burden of the disease still remains high in Uganda and there is not enough information on new infections.
Ends
Published on: Tuesday, 23rd September, 2003 |
