Seventh-Day Adventist Church leaders commit to HIV fight

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The Seventh-Day Adventist Church has partnered with the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) to amplify their voice in the effort to end HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

The ministerial and family life director of the Uganda Union, Pastor Hannington Ntuulo, says the Adventist Church leaders are going to disseminate HIV prevention messages to their congregation.

"We are going to dedicate a Sabbath to educating people the congregation about HIV, specifically how it is spread and how it can be prevented,” Pastor Ntuulo says.

He says otherwise, they risk losing people that God wants to use in preaching his gospel.

 “If we have people who are infected with HIV, it means that the Church may not be able to do its mission,” he says.

The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) Director Partnerships Tom Etti addressing Seventh-Day Adventist leaders during the meeting. (Photo by Agnes Kyotalengerire)

The executive secretary of the Uganda Union Mission SDA Church, Pastor Nicholas Bitamazire Bigirwa, says they have a young Church and plan to reach out to them with interventions that are in line with their values and educate them on the dangers of HIV and how they can navigate.

"As a faith community, we recognise that health outcomes are not shaped by medical interventions alone, but also by values, beliefs, relationships, and trust." Pastor Bitamazire says.

For those who are already infected with HIV, he says they will inform them of the measures that have been put in place to assist them to live a productive and long life.

The executive treasurer of the SDA church, South Western Uganda Field Elder Hanbert Mwebaza, says they are going to incorporate the dissemination of HIV prevention messages in all their quarterly preaching programmes.

They made the pledges during a meeting between UAC representatives and Seventh-Day Adventist Church leadership on collaboration towards ending AIDS by 2030 at the SDA church offices in Makerere, Kampala city, on February 18, 2026.

The meeting attracted officials from UAC, led by director of Partnerships Tom Etti and zonal coordinator Mary Namuyomba. In attendance were leaders across the administration domain of the Seventh-day Adventist church, and they included presidents (bishops), secretaries, and Family life, education and health directors from all regions.

Etti urged men belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist church to embrace HIV testing and know their HIV status. He further urged men to be pillars in HIV prevention by protecting young girls and women against HIV.

He asked the Church leaders to use Seventh-day Adventist programmes to disseminate key HIV prevention messages, a practice he termed as HIV/AIDS mainstreaming.

Mainstreaming is a process that enables management of sectors and institutions to address the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS in an effective and sustainable manner, both through their usual work and within their workplace.

The HIV burden

With the new HIV infection rate standing at 37,000, it simply means that a total of 711 people get infected every week and about five people every hour in Uganda, according to the 2025 national HIV estimates.

Last year alone, the country recorded a total of 20,000 HIV-related deaths, with a total of 54 people dying daily. Notably, 1.5 million people are living with HIV in Uganda, and of those, only 1.3 are on treatment.