2022 NATIONAL HIV & AIDS SYMPOSIUM 🎗️

Presented by Joseph Kizza
(Scroll down the page for earlier updates)
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5:45 pm   |   Minister Musasizi closes HIV & AIDS Symposium

And it is a wrap for this year's National HIV & AIDS Symposium, which has been officially closed by finance state minister Henry Musasizi, who is seen below interacting with UNAIDS country director Jacqueline Makokha, as Uganda AIDS Commission director general Dr. Nelson Musoba looks on.

A group photo . . .

From left (below), UAC director general Dr. Nelson Musoba, UAC board member Charles Wendo and the UPDF representative to Parliament Maj. Gen. Henry Matsiko interact after the closure of the symposium.

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5:12 pm   |   'We all need to join fight'

Finance state minister Henry Musasizi says Uganda is one of the hardest-hit countries by HIV & AIDS ahead of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

He says the challenges are "genuine and growing concerns".

Musasizi says sustainable HIV pandemic control is best when the full range of treatment services are owned by local institutions, Government and community-led organisations.

"We have an obligation as Government to take care of our people," says the minister, who is also the MP of Rubanda East, adding that the "issue is not the fund - the issue is allocation in the budget".

"Government has committed significant resources into the fight againt HIV & AIDS at an average $600m (about sh2.2 trillion) per annum."

Musasizi says there is need to: "Emphasize that HIV is still around us, HIV kills, HIV distorts the progress of osme people and HIV creates uncertainty."

"There is a need for all of us to join the fight by talking about it and by encouraging our people to behave morally."
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3:47 pm   |  Luigi Giussani H.S. students draw lessons from syposium

Students from Luigi Giussani High School have attended the symposium and have shared with New Vision's Maria Wamala their takeaways from the three-day convention.

Fionah says she has learnt that more girls are exposed to HIV than boys are, among other things.


Benjamin says he has learnt that some people living with HIV are scared. "It is nothing to get afraid of because there is treatment for that."


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3:00 pm  

Prof. Lumumba was delighted to receive some gifts, as captured on phone by Jacky Achan:


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2:55 pm   |   PICTURED  📸

Prof. PLO Lumumba has toured the Philly Lutaaya section, where information about the celebrated late Ugandan musician was on display. He has keenly listened in as Ahabwe Johnson explains the life of a man whose life was cut short by AIDS in 1989 but whose legacy lives on to this day.

Centre in the picture below is musician Joanita Kawalya and Nelson Musoba, the director general of Uganda AIDS Commission (second from right).

During the tour, New Vision's Jacky Achan relishes a photo op with the visiting eloquent Kenyan lawyer, who delivered an enthralling keynote address on domestic financing of the HIV & AIDS response.

Wan Luo TV's Pat Larubi shares a moment with Lumumba.

Lumumba speaking to some activists.

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1:43 pm   |   'Sex is not the problem, knowledge is'

At 75, the number of years retired Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga has lived with HIV are more than those he has lived without the virus.

"We have not helped the young people to understand what HIV and sex are about," he tells New Vision's Jacky Achan on the sidelines of the symposium. "Sex is not the problem, and HIV is not the problem. The problem is knowledge."


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12:57 pm  

At this symposium, Y+ Beauty Pageant queens and kings have educated Makerere University Business School (MUBS) students on how to wear a female and male condom, reports New Vision's Simon Peter Tumwine.

During their interaction with some of the students, they said youths are sexually active and as a result, they end up making regrettable mistakes. They advised the youths to always use a condom whenever having sex with a partner whose status they are not sure about. .

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12:36 pm  

Mary Borgman, the PEPFAR country co-ordinator, talking about transitioning of HIV & AIDS financing from donor-led to government-led, putting this into a development partners perspective.

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12:32 pm   |   Epidemics a threat to HIV & AIDS response - civil society

Kennedy Otundo, the executive director of Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organizations (UNASO), has presented a statement by the civil society.

The year 2030 is getting closer," says Otundo.

"As we make strides in ending AIDS in Uganda, emerging social, economic, health challenges seem to be dragging our efforts backwards. Epidemics like COVID, Ebola and inequalities still pose a threat to efforts to ensure equal access and uptake of comprehensive HIV services in Uganda."

He says social isolation, poverty, cultural norms, orphanhood, gender-based violence and illiteracy contribute the vulnerability to HIV among the young people.

Otundo says efforts aimed at ending inequalities among adolescent girls, young women, and boys will not only bring Uganda back on track, but will also accelerate progress toward achieving the goals of the Presidential Fast Track Action Plan.
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11:59 am   |   Take the right decisions - Watiti

Dr. Stephen Watiti has lived with HIV for over 35 years, and is now an HIV activist and ardent advocate for improved and sustainable health for all.

At the ongoing HIV & AIDS symposium, he urges young people, whether with HIV or not, "to take important decisions well".

"If you are positive, for example, you need to take your medicine well, be able to look after yourself well, avoid harmful practices...If you take the right decisions, then can age - and even age gracefully."


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11:39 am   |   'Inequalities stand in the way of HIV response'

Dr. Sabrina Bakeera-Kitaka, a pediatrician and senior lecturer at Makerere University, tells New Vision's Jacky Achan (in the video below) that "ending AIDS is not going to work when there are many inequalities", including inequalities between young people and older people, and between men and women.


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11:18 am   |   Activate HIV Trust Fund, says Lumumba

In his keynote address at the symposium, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba recommends that Uganda activates the HIV Trust Fund, saying it is one way to ensure the HIV & AIDS response is sustained.

"Africa is in a crisis of sorts. A crisis of funding. Funding continues to worry Africa in all sectors...When the COVID-19 pandemic came, we almost forgot about HIV & AIDS," he says.

Lumumba says HIV & AIDS "continues to be a burden in a much more pronounced sense on the African continent".

"It is our friends of goodwill [donors] who continue to support us. But for how long will they continue to do so?"

Lumumba says donors come to support in the hope that soon, the countries they are supporting will be able to stand on their own.

"The time is now that we on the African continent must begin to look inwards. The time is now that we must liberate ourselves from that curse of begging. This conversation this morning is beginning to ask the right questions. Not that we have not asked them before," he says.

"We need to smell the proverbial coffee. If you look at African institutions, they are mostly foreign-funded. They are only African by name."

Lumumba, the former director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, says Africa must be weaned off the dependence of donors. He suggests the HIV Trust Fund is activated with money from oil, taxes, etc.

He also suggests that the East African nations donate 5% of their respective national budgest into a regional fund to deal with HIV & AIDS.

He also urges instituions to "learn to speak boldily" about financing of critical matters to the country's hierarchy. "I hope to see the full deliberations of this symposium on the desk of the President".

Lumumba also talks tough against corruption, saying that "we must stop being thieves" if key initiatives are to be successfully dealt with.

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10:20 am   |   Ring puts HIV prevention 'in hands of women'

Dr. Vincent Bagambe, the director of planning at the Uganda AIDS Commission, has said at this symposium that their Joint AIDS Review Report notes that the HIV burden is "still high". 

"We have 1.4 million Ugandans living with HIV and AIDS. But importantly, in the year ending 2021, we registered 54, 000 new HIV infections. Of the 54,000 new HIV infections, two-thirds were from young people - adolescent girls and young women," he says.

"The Ministry of Health has approved two new HIV prevention methods. [One of them is] the dapivirine vaginal ring (DPV-VR), a ring-like structure which women can put in their private parts and it has an antiviral agent that is able to prevent transmission of HIV to the woman.

"The importance of this is that it is putting HIV prevention in the hands of the woman."

To properly use the ring, it must be worn inside the vagina for a period of 28 days, after which it should be replaced by a new ring, says the World Health Organisation.

The ring is made of silicone and is easy to bend and insert. The ring works by releasing the antiretroviral drug dapivirine from the ring into the vagina slowly over 28 days. 
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9:56 am   |   Join the conversation online

As always, we are using the hashtag #EndAIDS2030Ug on Twitter for the symposium. Feel free to engage HERE.

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9:52 am   |   Financing dialogue

It is a discussion on HIV & AIDS financing today featuring high-level speakers.

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9:28 am   |   HIV & AIDS 'double-edged sword' - Lumumba



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9:21 am   |   'HIV & AIDS creates poverty'

"We must intensify the campaign [against HIV & AIDS]. We must go to households in Uganda. You have now adopted the parish approach (Parish Development Model)," Prof. PLO Lumumba tells Urban TV.

"We would want to see this done both by administrators, people in the inter-religious arena, in institutions of higher learning and primary schools. This must be done because if it is not done, it is a double-edged sword.

"HIV & AIDS goes on rampage because of poverty and it also creates poverty. So, there are two sides of the same coin. Household incomes go down, priorities also change," he says.
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9:15 am   |   Lumumba speaks to Urban TV

This morning, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, the former director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, will deliver a keynote address on domestic financing of the HIV & AIDS response at the symposium.

He arrived at the venue - Makerere Business School (MUBS) - quite early and settled in. Ahead of his scheduled address, he has appeared on Urban TV's morning show Rush Hour, interviewed by Lynn Komugisha.

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9:06 am   |   Afternoon session programme

During the closing ceremony in the afternoon, the finance ministry will present an analytical report on the HIV & AIDS financing in Uganda.

Peter Sands, the executive director of Global Fund, will talk about Global Fund's writing process, with a focus on prioritizing communities of adolescent girls, young women and boys.

The UN resident co-ordinator, Susan Ngongi Namondo, will touch on global resources and financing for the AIDS response and its implications to Uganda.

Kennedy Otundo, the executive director of Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organizations (UNASO), will present a statement by the civil society.

There will also be a statement by the AIDS development partners, plus much more.
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9:00 am   |   Morning session programme

Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, the former director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, is here. He is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on domestic financing of the HIV & AIDS response. He will talk about a sustainable way to end AIDS in Uganda.

Finance minister Matia Kasaija will also be here to talk about government's position on sustainable HIV financing.

After the minister, panellists will discuss prospects for new or additional domestic HIV resourses.

Emmanuel Katongole will touch on the opportunties for sustainable financing of the HIV & AIDS responses through the private sector.

Mary Borgman, the PEPFAR country co-ordinator, will talk about transitioning of HIV & AIDS financing from donor-led to government-led, putting this into a development partners perspective.

Health ministry permanent secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine, will focus on the inclusion of the National Health Insurance Scheme for sustainability.

Ramathan Ggoobi, the finance ministry's permanent secretary and secretary to the Treasury, will also be on the panel. He will talk about Government's readiness on transitioning HIV & AIDS financing from predominantly donor-led to government-led.
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8:50 am   |   Good morning everyone

Hello everyone, welcome back for our continuing coverage of the three-day 2022 National HIV & AIDS Symposium at Makerere Business School (MUBS) in Kampala. Today is the third and closing day. It is a breezy morning here at MUBS but I can see fingers crossed - to wish away the looming rain, perhaps?

Follow along for updates on what will be happening in the course of a busy day featuring several discussions and presentations.
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