Philly Bongoley to be remembered at second memorial lecture

HIV/AIDS | PHIILY BONGOLEY LUTAAYA 

Uganda will on Saturday (October 17, 2020), hold the Philly Bongoley Lutaaya Memorial Public lecture to remember his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDs.

Esther Mbayo, the minister in charge of the presidency said Lutaaya made an outstanding contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDs.

Lutaaya declared his positive HIV/AIDs status to Ugandans and used it to warn the world against the disease.

The lecture set for Saturday is to be held ahead of the World AIDs Day. The nature and location of the lecture will be communicated.

Every year, on 1^st December, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. People around the world unite to show support for people living with and affected by HIV and to remember those who lost their lives to AIDS.

"When HIV/AIDs was discovered in the 1980s, little was known about it. There was a lot of fear about it and it meant a death sentence and the medicines for treatment were not available then," Mbayo told the media in Kampala.

Mbayo said Lutaaya warned the world about HIV/AIDs through music and educated people about it.

She noted that Lutaaya fought stigma against people living with HIV/AIDs and the discrimination they faced.

She said through Lutaaya's efforts and other stakeholders the rate of HIV/AIDs infection in Uganda was controlled and a better understanding of the disease is known.

She noted that in Uganda, there are about 1.4m living with HIV/AIDs and 1.2m are on treatment.

She said in 2019 there were 53,000 new infections and 20,000 deaths related to HIV/AIDs.

She appealed to the public to stop stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV/Aids.