Lira Bishop Wanok urges Lango residents to fight HIV, other disease

LIRA - Every December 1, the World commemorates World AIDS Day to create awareness about the disease, remember those who lost their lives and celebrate the progress made in fighting the deadly pandemic.

In Lira city, preparations for the commemoration day started in high gear on November 30, 2025, with activities, including testing, counselling and educational campaigns.

The activities conducted at Uganda Martyrs Cathedral Church in Lira City were initiated by the Lira Catholic Diocese's health department in collaboration with the health ministry and powered by CARITAS Uganda.

Officiating the event, Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok thanked the medical personnel for the tremendous work they did to reduce the rate of new infection, especially in Lira city, where there is a reduction from 12.1% to 9%.

While optimistic that the new infection rate can further reduce in the Lango region, the bishop encouraged the subjects to voluntarily test to know their status to ease the struggles of the medics in fighting the disease.

“Initially, we were at 12 per cent; now we are at nine per cent. So, now I am asking everybody in the Lango region , including Lira city, where the cathedral is, to come and test and be in control of the disease, not the disease to control you,’’ Bishop Wanok said.

As the HIV and AIDS fight continues, the bishop reminded people also not to neglect other diseases.

“Take up the mantle and come up, including the sickle cell, which we used to think it was wizardry (jok) and now we have discovered it is not, that helps us now to focus and all the children should be tested because if you know your status, it’s very good and the medical people can control you and help you to recover your genes,” he urged.

Wanok said health is a priority number one in their programme of evangelisation, followed by catechesis, education, Caritas (love), communications and accountability and that Christians should appreciate it because without health, other activities can’t proceed.

About the achievements

Dr Hilary Okello, the HIV/AIDS focal point person for Lira city, said when new infection rates skyrocketed, they initiated the City AIDS committee that brought together all the stakeholders, who went down to the community and advocated through various fora.

“In any sitting or burials, they would be talking about HIV. Besides that, we also had many radio programmes and many stakeholder meetings and above all, the people who played much bigger roles in this were the media because every time we aired concerns about HIV, it was on the radio,” he explained.

He said later, they started targeting those who are the real victims, who are the young people, using very many organisations.

“The bodaboda made us reach very many hotspots which were hidden, we went with the message, tested people and their partners, and surprisingly, there were some people who knew they were sick and after testing, they turned out to be negative, and they abandoned the risky sexual behaviour,” Okello explained.

He said another group they reached out to was the street children, who were tested, and those found HIV-positive were enrolled on treatment.

According to him, the Lira Catholic Diocese also provided a platform on the radio and built the capacity of the catechists.

However, Okello urged the community not to relax, saying that even as the achievement is made, Lira is still registering new infections like Hoima, Fort Portal and Mbarara cities, suggesting that if this continues, the prevalence might again shoot higher.

According to him, in 2024, Lira city registered 350 new infections, which still poses a much higher risk.

Loss-to-follow-up

Okello said when the US announced that they are no longer funding the HIV/AIDS disease fight, people thought it would change everything, hence some left going to the health facilities to get drugs because of fear of stigma, but after talking to them, the majority of them resumed.

Dinah Apio, diocesan HIV/AIDS focal point person, said they chose to offer HIV testing services at the church to capture more clients because it’s the place where more people turn up on Sundays.

In line with this year’s Theme: Building a Sustainable HIV Response to End AIDS, Apio said they have taken the community approach where they target massive HIV/AIDS awareness for people to know their status and can make informed decisions on how to live their lives responsibly.

Apio said they have also built the capacity of the pastoral agents, like priests, nuns and other religions to be able to know more about HIV/AIDS, such that when they are in the community, they can reach out to every household with basic information about the disease.

She observes that the lost-to-follow-up cases are on the rise among the community due to a lack of information, which makes some people get the first dose, when it finishes, they relax because they don’t know where to go for the next doses.

Another cause of lost-to-follow-up, she said, is domestic violence that comes with disclosure. When a partner tests positive, he or she is accused of bringing the disease.

In such a situation, their partner may decide to take the medicine secretly, and because of that, with time, this may become difficult.