Cabinet approves bid to host Africa AIDS conference

Cabinet has approved the country's bid to host the International Conference on Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infection in Africa (ICASA) in 2021.

According to Kiwanuka Ssubi, the head of public affairs and international relations department at the Uganda Media Centre, Uganda will compete with Kenya for the bid.

"Cabinet noted the update on Uganda's bid to host the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Uganda 2021 and that Uganda had been voted by the Society for AIDS in Africa members together with Kenya to be on the final shortlist of Countries from which one country will be selected to host ICASA 2021," Kiwanuka told journalists on Tuesday.

Cabinet, which approved Uganda's bid for the 21^st ICASA conference, was chaired by President Yoweri Museveni on Monday.

The 20^th ICASA conference will be held this year in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme, ‘AIDS free Africa—innovation, community and political leadership.'

The conference, which is the biggest on the continent, brings together leaders, experts, academics and civil society activists from Africa and other continents to discuss how the world can use science to combat the HIV/AIDs scourge in Africa.

The target of ICASA is to achieve an AIDS-free Africa

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),  in Uganda, the prevalence of HIV among adults (15-64 years) is 6.2%, which is equivalent to 1.2 million people of the same age bracket that are living with HIV in the country.