Avoid getting HIV twice in festive months, Buikwe MP tells youth

Dec 21, 2021

During this time of merry-making, there is a surge or an increase of HIV infection, though there is no documented research.

MP Lwanga addressing the youth. Alongside him is Miss Mariam Athen . (Photos by Elvis Basudde)

Elvis Basudde
Journalist @New Vision

Jimmy Lwanga, the Member of Parliament for Njeru Municipality in Buikwe district has warned young people living with HIV to avoid acquiring a second strain of HIV during this Christmas festive season.

Re-infection is most acquired during festive season, and you are open to getting a second strain of HIV if you become reckless. During merry-making functions, people generally become wild in one way or the other, Lwanga said.

Because of the influence of alcohol and drugs, those living with HIV get stimulated and forget the ABCs we have been singing about in the papers, and all the messages of behaviour change communication are all minimized and they take them lightly.

He said alcohol can easily change some one's mindset and he/she starts doing things subconsciously. During this time of merry-making, there is surge or an increase of HIV infection, though there is no documented research.

Youth members of Shadow Idols youth Club entertaining visitors

It is better and safer to remain with your HIV because the second human immunodeficiency virus infection could be worse and deadly. HIV superinfection is a consequence of unprotected (foregoing condoms) sexual encounters between two HIV-infected people.

It occurs when a person living with HIV gets infected a second time while having unprotected sex with another HIV-infected person. Lwanga made the remarks during the post-World AIDS Day meeting at St. Francis Health Care Services in Njeru municipality.

The meeting was organized by the Shadow Idols Club, a youth empowerment program, established by Francis health care services, a private not for profit-making health facility (PNFP) in Njeru Municipality in Buikwe district.

The facility supports over 2000 adolescent and young people openly living with HIV, aged 10-24, in Buikwe district with comprehensive and inclusive HIV care, treatment including bursaries and skilling.

Through the youth empowerment programs (Shadow Idols youth Club), young people living with HIV motivate their peers to access treatment adherence behaviours and encourage them to have their viral load suppressed, on top of strategically improving their wellbeing as young people living with HIV.

It also empowers members and any other young people from the community with life skills to address their sexual reproductive health and rights through music dance and drama, peer to peer sessions, football, basic computing skills, purposeful multimedia creation likes short documentaries, photography and videography, bakery and cookery and open library for the community to access literature.

This is done not only to support young people have a productive and positive life in their communities but also to create a source of income for them. This is done every Saturday of the week where young people from the community come to the hospital from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm throughout the year.

“The program also extends services to the community for young people who cannot access the health facility through community outreaches which are guided by peer educators,” said Dr. Byomukama Wensi, in charge of ART at St. Francis Health Care Services.

Byomukama defines HIV super infection (also called HIV re-infection) as a condition in which a person with an established HIV acquires a second strain of HIV, often of a different subtype which could be more deadly.

These can form a recombinant strain that co-exists with the strain from the initial infection, as well as the strain from the new virus, and may cause more rapid disease progression or carry multiple resistances to certain HIV medications.

Nyanzi Hussein, youth leader (with microphone) addressing his peers

“As a communicable virus, HIV has the ability to mutate as it is exposed to different drugs. If a partner doesn’t adhere to taking their HIV drugs, then the virus can mutate and become resistant over time to that class of drugs,” he said

Adding, “While condoms are not 100% foolproof, they remain the best first-line defense against HIV. If re-infection occurs, you may not even know it. Some people may develop mild, flu-like symptoms, while others will only know there is a problem when their viral load suddenly shoots up.”

He told them that they can get HIV from contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids, but most people get the virus by having unprotected sex with someone who has HIV. He further said one can get it by sharing syringes, drug needles with someone who is infected with HIV, from mother-to-baby during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, and through contaminated blood transfusion. 

“There are powerful tools that can help prevent HIV transmission. Using condoms the right way every time you have sex or taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) consistently will protect you from HIV infection through sex. Choose less risky sexual behaviours, limit your number of sexual partners and never share needles,” he advised.

Uganda has 1.4million people living with HIV, and still registers about seven hundred and thirty new infections per week with young people contributing 52% of those new infections. We still register 22 thousand deaths, and men are succumbing more to these with the biggest percentage of these are young men.

UNAIDS’s new statistics indicate that  Uganda has the highest percentage people between the ages of 15 and 25 living with HIV and AIDS in East Africa. 3.7% of females and 2.4% of males in the age group live with HIV, which also ranks ninth in Africa, Uganda followed by Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.  575 adolescents and young women between 15 to 24 years in Uganda get infected with HIV on a weekly basis (MOH report).

"We encourage people living with HIV to behave well during this Xmas season because, as Dr.Byamukama says, if your HIV virus is low, less than 20, you may not infect, but you can be re-infected," Lwanga said.

The event was also graced by Mr.  & Miss Eastern region, HUSSEIN FAZILand MARIAM ANTHENA respectively, who both shared their efforts in the fight against HIV stigma and discrimination using their tittles to inspire young people living with HIV change their perceptions on treatment.

MARIAM ANTHENA

She narrated: “I had a friend in school whom i trusted so much and disclosed my status to her without knowing that the friend was spreading rumors about my HIV positive status. When i heard the rumour, i was traumatized. I couldn’t believe that my friend could betray me. When all students leant about my status, they started stigmatizing me, not wanting to associate with me.

It was during that time that i picked courage and confirmed to them that i was HIV positive and   encouraged  young people to disclose their cell status because it the only you can feel secured

HUSSEIN FAZIL

He encouraged  adolescent girls and young women living with HIV to access  quality and affordable menstrual hygiene management commodities,  citing the many times girls find difficult in accessing menstrual towels and pads. He said that many of them are from poor families who think that think that spending money to buy a pad is wastage. He further pleaded to Member of Parliament to exempt menstrual hygiene management commodities from tax or avail them for free

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