Gov't to focus on adolescent children in HIV fight
Jan 24, 2017
There is still a need to fight stigma among infected Ugandans especially children in adolescent stages and sex workers
Government alongside partners from United States and the World Health Organization have launched a campaign against HIV/AIDS transmission among Ugandans focusing more on adolescent children, women and island populations.
This was during the launch of the 2016/17 guidelines of treating and preventing the virus from infecting or killing more Ugandans where it was revealed that more than 40% of those infected are still living without treatment.
Dr. Anthony Mbonye, the acting director general, ministry of health, said that these groups of people are still the biggest problem Uganda faces in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"A country that has 1.5milllion infected people, 922140 are known to be on ARV treatment but the rest are unknown and this risks a bigger population of the uninfected Ugandans" he said.
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Dr. Micheal Bukenya (L) receiving a copy of the new guidelines from Dr Mbonye. Photo by Ashraf Kasirye
He added that there is still a need to fight stigma among infected Ugandans especially children in adolescent stages and sex workers so that they can feel free to offer themselves for testing and treatment.
Dr. Joshua Musinguzi the ministry of health AIDS control manager said they have received funding worth $147m to purchase drugs to be used during this year's nationwide campaign.