HIV/AIDS rates rise in Tororo

Sep 16, 2009

THE rate of HIV/AIDS infections is increasing in Tororo and the neighbouring districts, The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) area manager, Dr. Daniel Bogere, has said.

By Moses Nampala

THE rate of HIV/AIDS infections is increasing in Tororo and the neighbouring districts, The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) area manager, Dr. Daniel Bogere, has said.

He said the number of new clients seeking treatment had drastically increased from 250 to 1,000 in the last one year. He added that women constituted 65% of the new clients.

He made the remarks on Friday during the launch of the TASO week, an annual cerebration, which was held on Oboya Road in Tororo Town.

The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention among the adolescents’. Bogere blamed the increasing HIV/AIDS infection on immorality.

“Investigations carried out by the centre have shown that people indulge in unprotected sex whenever they engage in extra-marital affairs,” he said.

He added that the desire for polygamous marriages among men was another factor responsible for the high rate of infection. Bogere further regretted that it was only women who had been vigilant in turning up at the centre for treatment, saying that the men shied away.

The Tororo resident district commissioner, Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka, who was the chief guest at the function, said the revelation was unfortunate.

“Gone are days when promiscuity was fashionable. If you can’t restrain yourselves from extra marital sex, please use condoms,” Hashaka advised.

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