InterPress News Service (IPS) - Tuesday, February 24, 1998
Judith Achieng'

The musician contracted the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the early 1980s. "... When he use to sing and talked about AIDS, few here took him seriously until he succumbed to the disease and died," recalls journalist Geofrey Kalebo. His songs -- which have now become an invaluable asset in the fight against AIDS -- warn Ugandans to abstain from promiscuity, the major cause in Uganda for the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes AIDS.

Thanks to Lutayaa's voice and that of many others, Uganda is now being used as a case study by African countries that seek to emulate its "success campaign". According to the state-run AIDS Control Programme (ACP), the campaigns have resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of reported cases in Uganda.

A study conducted by the group in 39 districts between 1992 and 1996 shows that the East African country saw the worst of the epidemic in 1991 when it reported 36,552 cases with at least 10,000 new infections annually. From 1992, however, the number of new infections dropped to 4,641 per annum. And, by the end of 1996, only 3,032 cases were recorded.

"Surveillance sites continue to show declining trends in some urban sites, and stabilization in the urban sites as well as the rural sites," says the ACP study.

Dr Peter Kataha, the Director of the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service, was quoted by the latest edition of the Nairobi-based weekly 'East African' newspaper as saying that the decline in Uganda's HIV prevalence is also reflected in donated blood. He said the HIV prevalence in donated blood had by 1996 gone down from 14.4 percent in 1989 to 4.3 percent.

Dr Godwill Asiimme, the ACP's programme manager, attributes the decline to the positive changes in the behaviour and attitudes of Ugandans.

"Unlike in other African countries where discussions about sex is still regarded as a taboo, we tried to be very open about our situation. We mobilised our communities, churches and schools to spread the message," she says.

"AIDS is talked about everywhere, in schools, on radio stations, in newspapers and on the streets," says Peter Jabweli, who works in an industrial area in the capital, Kampala.

The campaign also is pervasive in public places, especially in hotels. For example, a top hotel here places a condom next to a bible on the desk of each room. "The message is very clear, you have the choice of abstaining from sex or protecting yourself," one of the room attendants says.

To disseminate the message further, AIDS is also being taught in schools as part of Uganda's educational curriculum. "The awareness in children (who are) not yet sexually active is likely to be manifested in their future sexual behaviour," says Mary Opiny, a teacher.

Perhaps the loudest of the voices in the AIDS campaign is that of the Philly Lutayaa Initiative, a non-governmental organisation (ngo) operating in slums around Kampala.

The initiative is run by people with AIDS who go around and speak openly about their plight. "We are here to tell the world that AIDS kills and all must endeavour to live responsibly," one member told IPS.

The emergence of AIDS in Africa in the 1980s has had great impacts on national economies and the social service structures of many countries. In Uganda, according to Uganda's Demographic and Health Survey publication, the HIV epidemic was introduced in the late 1970's and early 1980s. It was first recognised among traders and prostitutes in 1983.

These were the high risk groups then, but because of the political turmoil that plagued the country at the time, the epidemic only became a government priority in 1986 when President Yoweri Museveni came to power and established his National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.

"We made AIDS one of the government's top priorities and gave it a multifaceted approach. This meant that it formed a constant component in all government programmes," says Uganda's third deputy prime minister Paul Etiang.

Jabweli, however, says he fears that the awareness campaigns have slackened and may lead to the rate of AIDS infections shooting up again. "I don't see as many banners along the roads as much as I used to see them in the 1980s," he says. But his fears have been dismissed by the ACP. "We began the campaigns with earnest, but now we are reinforcing the message that the people already have," says Asiimme.

Unlike Uganda, much of the developing world is still grappling with the rising trend of the epidemic. The global estimate of people living with AIDS, according to a United Nations Aids (UNAIDS) fact sheet, is 22.6 million, and nearly half of these are women. The global number of children living with AIDS is about 1.2 million.

In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates a cumulative total of 11 million infected people, with 8.5 million of them still alive.(END/IPS/JA/MN/PM98)

980224
IP980204

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1998. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1998. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .