Monday 20 May 2013

Uganda's HIV Crisis



Uganda, a country once hailed as winning the war on HIV/AIDS, is slipping further and further behind.

In 2007, a group of LGBT Ugandans staged a protest outside an international conference on HIV/AIDS in Kampala. According to one source:

They were demonstrating over the exclusion of gay people as a high-priority group in the fight against AIDS. Although gay men in Uganda have a high HIV prevalence of 26%, they are not given the same level of support or inclusion as other groups such as soldiers, prostitutes and transient workers.

They were arrested. 

In response, Ugandan clergy threatened to take UNAIDS, the United Nations’ program on HIV/AIDS prevention, to court for its support of gay rights campaigners. Paul Kamya of Namirembe Christian Fellowship asserted:

"…we need a formal apology from Dr. Sibide [Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS] and his group for their continued support towards immoral activities. Uganda is a holy nation and it must be preserved…” – reported by Johnson M. Kyeswa, healthdev.net, 06/14/2008.

What can you do to help a country that threatens to sue people for trying to reduce the HIV/AIDS infection rate?

Spectrum Uganda calls for greater HIV testing for LGBTI community amid hostility

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to comment. Posts are moderated so there may be a delay before they appear. Thanks for reading!