WORLD | AIDS | DAY

Uganda’s record as a global leader in the fight against HIV is not disputable. According to UNAIDS, Uganda’s performance, so far, is laudable. 

According to the statistics of 2020, adults living with HIV are about 1,400,000, a prevalence of 5.4%. In 2019, Ugandans who acquired HIV were 38,000 and people who died of AIDS-related ailments were 22,000.

While this is still high (about 60  people per day) it is a 60% drop from the AIDS-related deaths of 2010. There are 1,300,000 people receiving free ARVs (90% coverage) and about 1,200,000 have had their HIV load suppressed.

Mother to child transmission of HIV has been eliminated by 98%, meaning that babies who survived HIV infection since 2012 are 1,100,000.

Every Ugandan has contributed to the struggle in some way. But there are those who have excelled in their fight against HIV and AIDS. 

Still, among those, there are a few who have led the way by way of impact, leadership, and involvement. Their roles have been illustrious, unprecedented and selfless in the different aspects since the disease was first reported in Uganda in 1982.

Below are some of the heroes:

Yoweri Museveni 

Those who know President Yoweri  Museveni’s involvement in the fight against HIV and AIDS describe him as the icon of the country’s success story.

His bold fight against AIDS had catapulted Uganda onto the map and made Museveni a senior global consultant on HIV/AIDS prevention. 

As a result of his efforts, AIDS prevalence reduced from above 30%  in 1980 to 6.3% in 2002. This was mainly because of his high level of political leadership.

At a time when most African countries were in denial about the epidemic, Uganda courageously chose to confront the situation. Museveni was hailed as the African leader most willing to speak openly about the disease.

He compelled all leaders to use political gatherings to preach create awareness about HIV and  AIDS. He did many things that led to the success of the HIV fight, including setting up the AIDS Control Program in the Ministry of Health in 1986 and the Uganda AIDS Commission in 1992.

Janet Kataha Museveni 

Aside from politics and being the First Lady of Uganda, Janet Museveni boasts of other achievements such as being the founder of Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans, an indigenous non-governmental organisation (NGO) that cares for war-related and HIV/AIDS-affected orphans countrywide.

The NGO has been in operation since 1986 and works with major UN organs and other international donor agencies. She is the founder and patron of the Uganda Youth Forum, an NGO that engages the nation’s youth for purposes of character and behaviour formation, particularly with regard to HIV and AIDS prevention. 

Philly Bongole Lutaaya

The famous singer was the first  Ugandan and probably African to declare that he had AIDS in 1989.  This was at a time when there was stigma associated with the disease. 

By declaring his HIV status, he put a human face to AIDS, thus helping to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, reducing the stigma and encouraging more people to declare their sero-status.

Amidst discrimination and rejection, Lutaaya was determined to reveal the truth that “AIDS was in our midst and people had to be educated about it.” 

Today, his works are still a reference point in the HIV/AIDS fight. Lutaaya composed AIDS awareness songs and his album, Alone, has become the quintessential AIDS anthem.

Dr Noerine Kaleeba

Kaleeba’s husband was diagnosed with AIDS in 1989 when he was studying in England. After attending to him in hospital and seeing him succumb to AIDS, she returned to Uganda and came out with the truth.

Although Kaleeba tested negative herself, she developed a vision of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO). Kaleeba mobilised her colleagues who were affected or infected by HIV/AIDS for community action, and TASO was born in 1987.

It was the first community response to AIDS in  Africa, which gained international reputation as a successful model of care and support for people living and affected by HIV and AIDS.

Kaleeba also moved on to make her contribution at the international level as a community mobiliser with UNAIDS. She has been awarded several accolades in recognition of her effort.

Her book, We Miss You All - AIDS in the family, gives a touching account on HIV and how she came to the global forefront of the AIDS  awareness campaign.

Notable figures

The Rev. Gideon Byamugisha

He earned respect in 1995 when he became the first practising priest in Africa to publicly declare his positive status.

Internationally, he is looked at as the leader in the field of faith-based approach to the HIV/AIDS fight. He has consistently advocated the use of condoms as a preventive measure, a stand that some religious establishments oppose. 

Byamugisha, who tested HIV  positive in 1998, castigates the Church for criticising condom use and stigmatising Christians affected by the disease by preaching that AIDS is a  result of immoral behaviour. 

“God says ‘you shall not kill’ but does not specify that killing is only by the sword. If you are in position to use a condom and you don’t use it, then you transmit HIV, you have committed murder,” Byamugisha told New Vision in 2002.

Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga

He has lived with HIV since the mid-1980s despite having diabetes.  He believes he would have long been dead if he kept his sero-status a secret. 

He became a teacher of HIV, and has dedicated his life to saving lives of others by sharing the knowledge he has acquired over the years.

In 1996, Ruranga teamed up with a few colleagues to start the National  Guidance and Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, now a formidable NGO, moving on to create a community of people affected or infected by HIV/AIDS, who have overcome the fear and the unknown,  shifting their attitude from the fear of dying to the state of hope and living positively.

Beatrice Were 

In 1993, Were co-founded the National Community of Women Living with  HIV/AIDS in Uganda, an NGO that unites women living with HIV.

The body also helps its members improve the quality of their lives. Were is a renown international AIDS activist who discovered that she was HIV positive in 1991, a month after her husband died of AIDS. She has won many awards.

Milly Katana

The former country director of the  International HIV/AIDS Alliance has lived with HIV for 26 years. Katana was one of the few Ugandans that was started on protease inhibitors combination, an HIV drug that was discovered in 1995 by scientists in the US.

Barely three months later, her viral load, which was in millions, had become undetectable, a treatment success.

She had given up hope for life, but when she started ARVs, she was able to do many things. She went back to school to do her postgraduate degree in accounting and since then she has never looked back.

After her MBA from Nkumba University, she did a public health degree at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. She even did a lot of other training and worked abroad. Because of ARVs, Katana says she lives a  normal life just like any other person and has inspired many.

 

Related articles:

Activists come out strong on HIV treatment: https://newvisionapp.page.link/YVb7WSyzh2Dxqrpd7

Lutaaya, A father of positive living: https://newvisionapp.page.link/uNJsxLXdaPJySVrd8