The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has selected Uganda for a study on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education. The US$1.5m project to include Tanzania and Malawi , will formulate leadership and policy strategies to enhance response to the epidemic.
THE Bishop of Ankole diocese, the Rt. Rev. Elisha Kyamugambi, has expressed concern over the increasing cases of defilement. I call upon all Christians to pray for our young generation that is vulnerable to the dreadful Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases likely to result from defilement, he said. Kyamugambi w
Century Bottling Company, local bottlers of Coke soft drinks on Wednesday donated sh16m to Uganda Women Effort to save the Orphans (UWESO). The money was raised in a month long campaign to support the education of HIV/AIDS orphans. John Donnachie, the Century managing director, handed over the cheque to UWESO founder,
The huge crowd that turned up for the international AIDS awareness concert in Dar es Salaam last Saturday, reduced the national stadium to a size of a humble dance hall! The concert lined up an intriguing menu of celebrated artists from Africa and Europe. From Uganda came Jose chameleon and Tempra Omona. From
People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA), have expressed dismay over the manner in which employers handle them. Sulaiman Walya, the representative of PLWA, said some teachers were dismissed by some district education officers on grounds that they are HIV-positive. Walya was speaking at celebrations to mark the World AIDS Day
Masaka Woman MP Sauda Mugerwa has appealed to fellow Muslim women to stop complaining against their husbands marrying more than one wife saying it will help in the fight against Aids. She said having many wives would help the majority of single women like her to get married. She was on Sunday at a fundraising drive for
The Danish government has commended President Yoweri Museveni for his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country. Flemming Bjork Pedersen, the ambassador to Uganda , said, We commend your president for spearheading the fight and the Ugandan population for their openness about the disease. He was spe
TASO has finally agreed to establish a permanent centre in northern Uganda to offer support to the HIV/Aids victims. Dr. Alex Cautihno, the TASO chief executive officer, said this during a graduation ceremony for USAID-sponsored orphans at the TASO office in Masaka Hospital on Thursday. We have therefore decided t
Fewer Ugandans are having casual sex Since the early 1990s the level of HIV infection in Uganda has been dwindling. Now, contrary to what many people think, a new report says the decline resulted mostly from abstinence and faithfulness, and to a less extent condom use. The report produced by a team of American and Ugan
The Imam of Kamwokya Muslim community, Sheikh Mohammed Senjala, has said night prayers are one of the major contributors to the spread of HIVAIDS, writes David Muwanga. He said youths escaped from their homes at night to attend night prayers where activities, including playing sex, take place. Children escape from thei
Uganda needs US$50m (about sh90b) annually to fight AIDS but the Government and donors provide only half of this, the Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro-Apuuli, has said. Kihumuro-Apuuli said if the Government is to provide anti-retroviral drugs to AIDS patients, it will require at lea
A total of 876 children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and those whose parents are living with the virus have been supported by The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in Uganda . This was said by the chief executive officer, TASO Uganda, Dr. Alex Courtinho, at a handover ceremony of tool kits to children being supported by TAS
The First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, on Tuesday led a visiting American delegation and several Ugandan business personalities on a tour of Migyera UWESO Training Institute in Nakasongola district, writes Vision Reporter. The institute, targeting to enroll 100 students in January 2003, especially orphans, will impart in
President Yoweri Museveni has described as genocidal, the reluctance by the developed countries to release anti-AIDS drugs to the developing countries. Opening the 10th assembly of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) at Kampala International Conference Centre on Monday, Musev
THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will soon start distributing free Nevirapine drugs to expectant mothers in refugee camps in order to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nevirapine, in use in most hospitals in the country, prevents mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Paul Spiegel, a senior UNHCR
Henry Obbo, the minister of state for labour, on Saturday turned a priest and delivered sermons to the Jopadhola on marriage. Marry only one wife, he intoned as the Jopadhola living in Kampala, Jinja, Entebbe and others from Tororo listened at an end of year party at Naguru Community Centre. Men who marry more than one
Barclays Bank of Uganda has donated sh41m to Virika HIV/AIDS Clinic in Fort Portal reports Fredrick Nyakabwa. The cheque was handed over by the Bank s Managing Director, Frank Griffiths, at Virika Hospital. The cheque was received by the Virika Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr. Enock Kisegerwa, and the ceremony was
Message: Revellers boogie at the concert at Hotel Africana. How does one sing and dance when the skies look so dark and forsaken? Last Sunday was World AIDS Day, when we remember all those who fall victim to this scourge, those who are living with it, and fight the stigma it brings. So how are we supposed to sing and d
THE UPDF deputy director for sports, Capt. Moses Kabusenene, yesterday stunned the General Court Martial when he declared that he was infected with HIV. Kabusenene, remanded two months ago on charges of terrorism and aggravated robbery, was making an application for bail. He told the seven-member coram chaired by Lt. G
James (not real name), a person living with HIV/AIDS (PWA) in Namibia , surprised a number of journalists when he said he has been living with the virus for the past seven years, without any anti-retroviral drugs. Anti-retroviral drugs are a cocktail of drugs that HIV positive people take to inhibit the progress of the
LACK of brailed messages on condom use is denying the blind vital information to practice safe sex, reports John Thawite. The western regional representative for the National Union of the Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), Betty Kwagala, said this on Thursday while meeting Kasese RDC, Musa Ecweru, at his Boma Ground
A total of 90,000 male condoms and 110 female condoms were given out free of charge by slum Aid project this year, reports Charity Kalebbo. The project coordinator, Rose Gawaya, said this on Friday while handing over symbols of power to Clare Nkirirehe at Bativa Hotel. The condoms which were distributed in Wandegeya, K
THE rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in pregnant women in the urban areas of Uganda has fallen for over eight consecutive years, from of 29.5% in 1992 to 11.25% in 2000. Deo Nyanzi, the information and documentation officer with Uganda Network of AIDS service Organisation (UNASO), said this recently during a workshop on HIV
THE First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, has hailed the Send-A-cow project for their initiative to aid orphans, widows and people with disabilities. Mrs. Museveni was the chief guest at the hand over of 19 heifers to three women and orphanage groups at Kako Cathedral in Masaka district on Friday. She said a lot was still r
Many people especially the youth could easily be under the illusion that HIV/AIDS no longer poses a threat because of the sharp reduction in the number of new infections since the 1990s. This could steadily become cause for laxity in the way the youth perceive the threat of HIV/AIDS. The consequences of such a scenario
From a bird s-eye view, its reckless lovemaking on the Hill. But dig beneath the surface, you ll come face to face with endless tales of sexual immorality at Uganda s Ivory Tower, Makerere University. With a population of over 30,000, sexual immorality here is at its zenith. This is probably why the First Lady, Janet M
Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza has revealed that the UPDF has been giving LRA commanders anti-retroviral drugs. This may be well meaning but it is misguided. Yes, the army should maintain contacts with Kony commanders in the hope that they renounce rebellion and take advantage of the amnesty. Give them food, clot
THE Government gives LRA commanders anti-retroviral drugs to persuade them denounce rebellion, the army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, said yesterday. Bantariza was contributing to a media workshop on reporting on children in conflict. It was organised by UNICEF at their offices in Kampala. He said he did not know w
The minute hand is rotating the 37th time past the appointment hour. He is nowhere to be seen. Has he forgotten the appointment? Maybe he is not a fan of time management, I start to imagine. But suddenly, I receive a telephone call. The caller is Sam Tushabe. I am sorry for the delay... but, I have been having a hectic
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni said on Monday that Uganda loses $703m (sh1.2 trillion) annually due to HIV/AIDS and $348 (sh630b) due to malaria. These costs, more than a billion dollars, is what Uganda loses both directly and indirectly. This is more than what we earn from coffee, he said. Museveni was opening the 36t
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday said he had issued a directive that every headteacher must convene a school general assembly every two weeks to address students about HIV/AIDS. I have written to the ministry of health and ministry of education that the whole school should be assembled at the end of every two weeks
When Jane Akite (not real name) was three months pregnant, she went to her district antenatal centre to prepare for safe delivery. The friendly health workers at the centre counselled her and she accepted to take an HIV test. She was told that taking an HIV test and determining one s sero-status helps save the unborn b
HIV/AIDS has claimed 94,755 Ugandan children aged below 15 years since its outbreak in the early 1980s, the HIV/AIDS surveillance report recently released by the Ministry of Health indicates. According to estimates of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as of December 2001, children make up about one tenth of the people who have die
EMPHASIS: AIDS Control Programme chief Elizabeth Madraa talks to participants THE Government is to receive US$36m under the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS to fight the AIDS pandemic, reports Martin Kiiza. The health advisor with the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British government for overseas develo
First Lady Janet Museveni yesterday visited Makerere University to rally students against HIV/AIDS. A State House statement said Mrs Museveni was furthering the Save the Next Generation from HIV/AIDS campaign. The President s Press Secretary, Mary Karooro Okurut, said the campaign was started in the early 1990s by the
HIV/AIDS related expenses cost the public service over sh3b in 1999, the 2002 Uganda Human Development Report shows. The draft report unveiled at a stakeholders workshop yesterday, said the expenditure rose from sh89m in 1995 to sh93.6m in 1996 and hit sh650m in 1998 before skyrocketing to sh3b in 1999. Of the sh3b
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has cautioned the newly commissioned army cadets against reckless and immoral sexual behaviours to avoid contracting the HIV/AIDS. He said this at the pass-out of over 1,692 cadet officers who completed their training in Jinja Military Academy, Gaddaffi barracks, on Friday. Museveni advised th
Uganda has been selected as one of the 14 countries to benefit from US$500m that US President George Bush has pledged for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, reports Charles Wendo. The US State Department s special representative on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Jack Chow, said they were only waiting for approval fro
Health minister Jim Muhwezi has asked the US government to broaden its funding of health programmes to include treatment of HIV/AIDS. Muhwezi said while the US had provided a lot of assistance towards the prevention of diseases such as Aids, there was need to focus on the treatment of those already affected. Muhwezi wa
First it was the Late Philly Bongole Lutaya. His use of music to crusade against the dreadful AIDS pandemic was phenomenal and groundbreaking. He blazed the trail. Earlier on this year, a group of young artists -- The Obsessions dance troupe and singer Kaweesa teamed up with then Miss Uganda Vict-oria Nabunya, R
The Ministry of Health yesterday warned that babies who got mother-to-child HIV/AIDS infection in the mid-1980s were now adolescents and could be innocently passing on the virus to their sexual partners. Dr Elizabeth Madraa, the programme co-ordinator for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the AIDS Control Programme in
HIV positive people may never be able to take drugs with a sulphur content, findings revealed at the Media and Malaria workshop at Vetta training centre in Tanga Tanzania , have shown. Research has shown that HIV positive people react adversely to any drug containing sulphur and yet treatment for malaria in the East Af
Century Bottling Company (CBC), producers of Coca-Cola have launched a month-long campaign to help raise funds to aid Uganda Women s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) initiative to educate HIV/AIDS orphans. The launch was presided over by Coca-Cola boss John Donnachie at their plant in Namanve, near Kampala on Friday.
John Bosco Oketcho lives with HIV but is full of hopes. At first he worried a lot and felt sick every day. Now, without spending a coin, he and his wife have got rid of the worries and tamed the pains though they still have HIV. Oketcho achieved this through light exercising his mind and body while breathing in a speci
At least sh10b is to be given directly to communities countrywide for campaigns to prevent HIV/AIDS and to lessen the suffering caused by the epidemic, officials have said. The money is to be dished out as part of the community-led HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) under the Uganda AIDS Control Project, funded by the Governme
President Yoweri Museveni s ambition to protect school children from HIV/AIDS is taking shape. The presidential advisor on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Jesse Kagimba, yesterday said a manual was ready for primary school teachers to begin educating their pupils on HIV/AIDS. The manual will among other things help teachers train school
Their anger turned into cheers when Premier Apolo Nsibambi warned against discrimination and said the Government wants anti-retroviral drugs for everyone who needs them in every village and locality. Yesterday, about 30 men and women living with HIV/AIDS, smuggled a demonstration into the International Conference Centr
Pope John Paul II has donated US$500,000 (about sh900m) towards the fight against AIDS in Uganda . The donation was announced by the President of the Papal Charity Cor Unum, Archbishop Josef Cordes, during mass to mark the Kampala Archdiocese day at Rubaga cathedral on Sunday. Fighting against AIDS in Uganda has bee
Among those who were sexually experienced, there was no increase in abstinence UGANDA s reduction of HIV prevalence rates during the 1990s is a result of the integral approach of behaviour-change prevention strategy, according to a recent research by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). According to estimates from
THE Uganda Aids Control programme (UACP) has approved 13 Community-led HIV/AIDS Initiatives (CHAI) projects in Masindi district, giving them about sh100m to implement their activities. Mr Peter Cwinya-ai, UACP s northern regional project officer said that the activities were aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS
AIDS service organisations want commercial sex work legalised in order to reduce the rate of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). STDs will remain rampant among commercial sex workers and continue trickling into society as long as the sex workers operate underground for fear of being arrested, the organi
THE cost of anti-retroviral treatment in Uganda is expected to come down following a decision by one of the leading manufacturers to slash the price, reports Geoffrey Kamali. Merck, Sharp & Dorme, a US-based pharmaceutical giant on Wednesday announced it had slashed the price of stockrin, a drug supplied to third w
Kanungu LC5 chairperson Josephine Kasya has said HIV/AIDS is the second killer disease in the area after malaria. She said this recently while launching the district network of people living with HIV/AIDS at the district administration s headquarters. The network was initiated by the National Guidance And Empowerment N
The death toll from AIDS is approaching one million. The HIV surveillance report released yesterday indicates that 947,552 people died of AIDS between the onset of the epidemic in the early 1980s and the beginning of this year, writes Charles Wendo. This was an increase from an estimate of 848,492 at the end of 2000, m
KONRAD Adenauer Stiftung has given sh200m to a women NGO, Women Together for Development (WOTUDEV). The donation was announced on Sunday by WOTODEV coordinator Rose Mukasa at their annual general meeting in Kampala. Mukasa said the money will be used to run the organisation s activities for one year. The money will als
A NEW report compiled by the Ministry of Health says Uganda s HIV infection rate is no longer declining. The infection rate among pregnant women was at 6.5% at the end of 2001, compared to 6.1% in 2000. This is disturbing. After falling consistently for 10 years, the HIV infection rate is taking a new trend. It is poss
For the first time in a decade, Uganda s HIV infection rate has not declined, according to the HIV surveillance report compiled by the Ministry of Health. We are in a dangerous situation, we have reached the crossroads, presidency minister Prof Gilbert Bukenya told Reuters news agency yesterday. The report says 6.5% of
The Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has appealed for an additional US$2b for the war against the three epidemics during the year 2003, writes Charles Wendo. In a statement issued on Friday, officials of the fund urged donors to double their contributions to raise the resources required to fight the e
HEALTH minister Brig. Jim Muhwezi yesterday said he would discuss the possibility of manufacturing anti-retroviral drugs in Uganda with the Cuban government, reports Hamis Kaheru. I am happy to learn that Cuba has already acquired the technology to manufacture AIDS drugs. It would be good and cheaper if these drugs wer
FOURTEEN Pharmacists who allegedly stole life support Diflucan drugs recently donated for needy AIDS patients in Uganda , have been charged with a new count of unlawful possession of Government property. Maurice Okore writes that the drugs, which were for free distribution to poor HIV/AIDS patients, were reportedly fou
Standard Chartered Bank is to roll out a global staff health education campaign, code-named Living with Aids , a statement from the bank announced on Tuesday. The programme follows the success of an earlier initiative, called Staying Alive, that was launched in all the 13 African countries where the bank operates.
DRUG barons engaged in the illicit export-back business of highly subsidised anti-retroviral drugs to Europe from Africa, are in for a shock. Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), German producers of Crixivan , one of the HIV drugs, has introduced new packaging for its low priced products to Africa. The anti-retrovirals a
THE Aids Information Centre (AIC) boss has challenged the Government to formulate a law to check fake HIV/AIDS testing centres in the country, reports John Thawite. Dr Hitimanan-Rukanika also warned the public against people masquerading with certificates purporting they were HIV-negative. He was speaking at a symposiu
MANY elderly parents lose a lot of money while seeking treatment for their children who are suffering from AIDS, Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala has said. George Bita reports that the Cardinal said the trend was caused by the lack of sensitisation on HIV/AIDS amongst older people with most organisations involved in the exerci
UGANDA is among the countries to benefit from the World Bank funding towards HIV/AIDS programmes in Africa, following the bank s resolution to ease lending terms. The director, Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro Apuuli, said the World Bank decided that all funding towards HIV/AIDS programmes in Sub-Saharan Afri
KASESE district LC5 chairman LC5 Yokasi Bihande has criticised religious leaders decampaigning condom use as a protective device against HIV/AIDS. Even the Bible permits man to control, manage and use the available knowledge to protect and preserve life against danger, Bihande said. He was on Tuesday speaking at Kasese
Mbale district has received sh130m from the government for the Community HIV/AIDS Initiative. The deputy chief administrative officer, Kenneth Waniele, told The New Vision on Monday that 18 community groups in the district were already benefiting from the funds. Waniele explained that the funds were supposed to be used
A breakdown in cultural norms, lack of guidance from parents, idleness and poverty, are the main causes of the high rate in the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kasese, the district director of health services has said. Speaking at a two-day workshop on adolescent reproductive health recently, Dr. Albert Okui said the district ra
THE National Drug Authority (NDA) has cracked a whip on 10 pharmacies implicated in the sale of life-support drugs meant for free distribution to needy AIDS patients. NDA drug inspectors accompanied by CID officers, on Friday raided the pharmacies in Kampala and Jinja. They withdrew their operating licences and closed
GULU LC5 chairman Lt. Col. Walter Ochora has hailed donors for the assistance rendered in the fight against Aids. Ochora said during a national consensus conference on HIV/AIDS for district coordinators at Soroti Hotel recently that local governments alone could not effectively fight Aids due to limited resources.
DELEGATES at the HIV/AIDS and Information Communication Technology (ICT) workshop have recommended that the campaign against HIV/AIDS be extended further to the rural schools. Fortunate Ahimbisibwe report that they said the rural schools have in the past missed the campaign which they said only focused in the centre.
DR Hitimana Lukanika, executive Director, AIDS information centre (AIC), has urged communities to support the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, saying it would reduce the spread of of HIV/AIDS. He said the disease was spreading fast among the uneducated and primary school dropouts. Lukanika was addressing pa
You cannot recognise her. Regina Nakibuule, 40, is skin and bones hardly six inches above the sponge mattress on the floor. Her half-dead eyes stare from two deep holes. Blood vessels like wires run down her emaciated hands. You can count her ribs and you can see two lean legs like drumsticks sticking out under the cot
HIV/AIDS and wars are the major causes of orphans and widows in Uganda , the Minister of State for Youth, Dr. Alex Kamugisha, has said. He said there are over two million orphans and about one million widows in Uganda. Kamugisha was recently addressing 150 students, mostly widows and orphans, who completed courses in h
UGANDA has been hailed for its efforts in combating HIV/AIDS and attaining international recognition. The African Regional Coordinator of World Links for Development at the World Bank, Anthony Bloome, said Uganda had done well in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. He said Uganda had attained international recognition for r
THE African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) has trained 2,800 HIV/AIDS peer-educators in Kumi, Soroti, and Katakwi districts. The AMREF programme manager, Moses Omiat, said the peer-educators, mostly students and science teachers in primary and secondary schools, would preach the dangers of early sex involvement.
JINJA district is to set up four more HIV/AIDS counselling and testing centres, the chairman of the district HIV/AIDS committee (DAC), Dr. Boniface Ntalo, has said. Ntalo said the new centres would be constructed in the sub-counties of Budondo, Busedde, Mpumudde and Budima to make a total of eight centres. Ntalo told T
FOURTEEN people were yesterday charged with possession of suspected stolen AIDS drugs. The group is said to be part of a countrywide racket which has diverted recently donated life support drugs to private pharmacies and clinics for sale. The suspects included Herbert Masayi of Kawempe, Regina Babara, of Old Kampala, J
Uganda is among the few African countries that have adopted the online campaign against HIV/AIDS and used it to produce substantial results. The campaign involves the use of information communication technology (ICT) as a way of fighting the HIV pandemic in the world through awareness, prevention and education progra
THE CID is investigating the National Medical Stores (NMS) and health centres nationwide over theft of life-support Diflucan drugs recently donated for the needy AIDS patients in Uganda . The drugs, which were for free distribution to poor HIV/AIDS patients, were found being sold in private pharmacies and clinics by un
Sembabule LC5 chairman Herman Ssentongo has advised stakeholders in the crusade against HIV/AIDS to give true facts about the statistics. He said they were giving contradictory statistical data about the disease, adding that it is a threat to the fight against AIDS. He said this recently while opening a one-day feedbac
The deputy head of the public service, Hilda Musubira, has cautioned newly recruited staff to guard against Aids. It would be absurd to have you today and lose you tomorrow. The infected persons should always visit the centres we have set up in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, Musubira said. She was opening a t
SIX districts in northern Uganda are to receive a total of £1.2m Pounds (about sh3.1b) to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and the attainment of peace. According to Mr. Sunday Abwola, the Northern Uganda area programme co-ordinator for HIV/AIDS, the disease will be fought through community sensitisation and building capaci
Even the plight of a helpless AIDS patient is not enough to move a thief to tears. In Kampala, the Police have unearthed a racket which has stolen massive amounts of recently donated life support AIDS drugs. The Diflucan tablets were for free distribution to poor HIV/AIDS patients. They were stolen from various health
The Aids Information Centre (AIC) has confirmed that two million Ugandans are infected with the HIV virus. AIC official Resty Bwanga said this at workshop on HIV/AIDS for local leaders from Buganda at the Bulange Plaza. The workshop, facilitated by the Mengo ministry of health, attracted about 200 participants includin
The National Political Commissar (NPC), Dr Crispus Kiyonga, has advised Ugandans who are not married to abstain from sex to avoid HIV/AIDS infection. Ronald Kabubi and Catherine Ntabadde report that Kiyonga, while at Muzinga Square in Entebbe on Friday, also advised married people to stick to their partners. He was spe
THE President of Pathfinder International, Mr. Dan Pellegrom, has hailed Uganda s leaders for enabling the country to remove the HIV/AIDS stigma. He said Uganda was one of the few African countries that openly talked about HIV/AIDS and how it had affected its people. Pellegrom made the remarks at the mayor s parlour wh
More than 350 traditional healers have been trained on HIV/AIDS and modern methods of preparing their drugs. The training that lasts 18 months gives the healers basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS, how to counsel HIV positive people, and to refer cases that have defeated them, said Dr. Dorothy Balaba, project coordinator of TH
The Danish government has boosted Uganda s Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS Programme (PMTCT) with a US$400,000 (over sh645m) grant. Most of the money will be used to create awareness among spouses on the high-risk transmission of HIV/AIDS to babies through breastfeeding, the main feeding method.
Grants worth over sh51.6m have been disbursed to 10 community-based organisations (CBOs) looking after children who lost their parents to the HIV/AIDS virus. The money is part of the US$10m awarded as seed grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI), a community-based
A Big percentage of people in Kumi district are suspected to be living with HIV/AIDS, according to the Kumi Aids Support Organisation (KASO) report, writes Williams Moi. Sam Alutia, the KASO acting manager, said this at a four-week training workshop on HIV/AIDS for 11 counsellors held at Stay Free Restaurant in Kumi to
The President of World Vision International, Dean Hirsh, has hailed the Church in Uganda for it s role in the fight against the HIV-Aids scourge. A release by the communications manager, Denye Kalebbo, said this is the first time World Vision board has met outside the organisation s headquarters in the USA. Hirsh m
THE Uganda HIV/AIDS control project (UACP) recently gave out cheques worth sh33m to 13 community-led HIV/AIDS initiative (CHAI) groups. The UACP northern region co-ordinator, Peter Cwinya-ai, said this during the launch of the second phase of the CHAI project at Lira district chambers. The money is part of the fund
A US $500,000 (about sh900m) World Bank-funded project for supply of audio visual equipment to the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), has run into trouble. A Nairobi-based company, Epsilon Broadcast Engineering ( Kenya ) Ltd., has strongly contested the contract award to MFI Office Solutions of Kampala.
SOROTI LC5 chairman Capt. John Emily Otekat has said stigma against AIDS patients in Teso region has increased their rate of death. He said people in Teso looked at AIDS as a sinful disease and shunned patients by denying them medical treatment. Discrimination of AIDS patients speeds up the rate of death among them but
THE GREENLAND School and Orphanage Trust, a UK registered NGO, is to build an orphanage for Kampala City Council at Nansana in Wakiso district. The mayor, Sebaana Kizito, said the three-acre site at Nansana has been donated to KCC by Mustaf Abudalah Bhagani, an Asian residing in Uganda . He said the
THE chairman of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga has stressed the need to use drama to spread the message for control and prevention of these diseases. Kiyonga, who is also the National Political Commissar, made the statement in Tanzania during a four-day working tour. He met the T
THE chairman of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Dr. Chrispus Kiyonga, has met President Moggae of Botswana in Gaborone. A statement issued from the Movement Secretariat said Kiyonga commended President Moggae for the strong leadership he provided for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Botswana.
MEDICAL authorities have disowned a woman who claims to be a qualified doctor who cures AIDS using herbal concoctions and spiritual powers, writes Charles Wendo. Hilda Kalanzi, who runs a backyard clinic in Busega, Kampala, claims that 50 patients had turned HIV negative after taking her medicine. The Monitor on Thursd
This is one of the eight promising experimental vaccines that IAVI is supporting If all goes according to plan, the candidate vaccine that is about to be tested in Uganda will enter the final phase of trial in three countries rather than one. Thousands or tens of thousands of volunteers will receive the injections, acc
Sanyu tells teenagers about STDs on the Straight Talk radio show daily How many of you can dare talk to a child about sex? Most adults cannot even talk about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) to the under-18s. Maybe it s embedded in our different cultural backgrounds. But how many grown-ups can tell their teenage so
DESPITE the many sensitisation programs on the AIDS epidemic over the radio, in newspapers, seminars and workshops, some people are still largely ignorant about the disease and many are at risk. On Tuesday, The New Vision found a group of youth in Bwaise, a Kampala suburb, discussing about the ways HIV infection spread
THE Ministry of Health is to appoint celebrities including sports and entertainment idols as ambassadors to speak to Ugandans about HIV/AIDS, state minister Mike Mukula has said. Mukula told a visiting American delegation at the ministry s headquarters on Monday that the celebrities could make the messages sink because
The Minister of Health, Jim Muhwezi, yesterday announced a maiden plan to provide free anti-retroviral treatment for more than 2,000 AIDS patients countrywide. Muhwezi said the initiative targets needy patients who cannot afford the treatment. He said this at the AIDS conference for parliamentarians, cultural and relig
If anti-retrovirals are misused, the results can be disastrous As part of a move that will yield more than 20 AIDS treatment centres countrywide, the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) on August 3 opened a clinic in Kabale Hospital. Dr Peter Mugyenyi, the JCRC director, said the clinic in Kabale will treat patients
The Second Deputy Prime Minster and Minster of Disaster Preparedness, Brigadier Moses Ali, has warned that spreading Aids deliberately is a crime, reports Herbert Ssempogo. You should abstain when infected. You must change your ways, repent your sins and turn to God instead of infecting others, Ali said. He was on Thur
The Swedish government, through its development aid arm, SIDA, has donated about US$0.9m towards the rural electrification project being undertaken by government, a report has disclosed. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development Annual Report for 2001, says that the programme was divided into two phases, and that
A JOINT clinic Research Centre branch on HIV/AIDS to serve the southwestern region was on Saturday launched in Kabale district, reports Martin Kiiza. The clinic will cover the districts of Kisoro, Rukungiri, Kanungu, Kabale and the neighbouring border areas of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The medica
For mrs. Sandra Kyagaba Justine, 26, a counsellor, peer educator and trainer with the National Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA), August 2, 2002, was an unforgettable evening. That evening, after a glamourous and hotly contested prestigious Ma Afrika Title-Uganda , held at Entebbe Golf Club, Sandra triumphe
PARLIAMENTS in Africa have been challenged to enact tough laws against the spread of HIV/AIDS by those who are infected, reports Joyce Namutebi. The legislators have also been advised to put in place a law on compulsory blood testing for all commercial sex workers and prosecution of those found to be HIV positive and o
THE HIV/AIDS project, with funding from the World Bank, has allocated sh88m to Lira district to fight HIV/AIDS. Lira LC5 chairman Dr. Charles Odwe Arago told The New Vision that sh33m is part of the 50% allocated for Community AIDS Initiative groups in 13 sub-counties. He said sh35m would be used to implement district
THE chairman of the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, has urged parliamentarians in Commonwealth countries to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS. Kiyonga told the ongoing Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference in Kampala that the global AIDS pandemic would under
MBARARA district has secured US$3m (about sh5.4b) from the World Bank to install an HIV/AIDS testing laboratory. The Uganda AIDS Commission director general said this in a speech delivered for him by Julius Byenkya during the recent launching of sh90b (about US$50m) HIV/AIDS Control Project at Kamukuzi district council
AMERICAN leaders currently on a study tour of Uganda are impressed with Uganda s success story in the struggle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The seven guests hailed President Yoweri Museveni s personal crusade against humankind s worst scourge that has ripped through Africa with devastating effects since the 1980s.
The Second Deputy Premier and minister for disaster preparedness, Brig. Moses Ali, has said HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination should not be tolerated in homes and at work places. Ali was launching the World Disaster 2002 report and the Uganda s two-year HIV/AIDS anti-stigma campaign at Sheraton Hotel, Kampala
A group of American politicians who visited Mbarara district on Monday have praised Uganda s efforts in the struggle against the HIV/AIDS scourge. The seven politicians who belong to the American council of young political leaders visited among others, the Mbarara branch of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), Mbarara
The United States , will copy the Ugandan experience in combating the HIV/AIDS scourge, the newly appointed director of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Julie Gerberding said. She said during at acceptance speech at the CDC centre in Washington early last month that monogamy and abstinence were the first line
A district guidance and empowerment network for people living with HIV/AIDS has been launched in Bushenyi district to advocate for the rights of those living with HIV/AIDS and to create awareness about the benefits of positive living. The ceremony was held at Katungu Mothers Union centre on Monday. The national coordin
FISHING communities all over the major lakes in the country, want Government to urgently focus its efforts to supporting HIV/AIDS awareness programmes targeting them. The recommendation was made last week by the members of the Uganda Fisheries and Fish Conservation Association (UFFCA) at a two-day board meeting held at
EIGHTY-NINE (89%) percent of the women and child-mothers who return from Joseph Kony s camps in the Sudan are infected by sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, reports Okello Jabweli in Gulu. Ociti Ochora, the Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO), the deputy programme coordinator on Friday said s
While Uganda“s average HIV infection rate is coming down, a new epidemic appears to be emerging among the older people. Most of the new HIV infections in Uganda are now occurring among men and women aged 35 and above, a new scientific analysis has revealed. Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, associate director of science and evaluat
The world is still several years away from an AIDS vaccine but it is time to figure out who will take it to the village and how they will do it. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) says that unless preparations are made now, it could take many years from the time a vaccine is discovered, before it reaches
The world is still several years away from an AIDS vaccine but it is time to figure out who will take it to the village and how they will do it. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) says that unless preparations are made now, it could take many years from the time a vaccine is discovered, before it reaches
Children who lose their mothers to AIDS are more likely to die even if they do not have HIV, a new study has revealed. The research done on 3,727 children in Rakai between 1987 and 2000, found out that orphaned children were two or three times more likely to die than those whose mothers were alive. Many of the children
THE Director General of Health Services, Prof. Francis Omaswa, has urged the public to ignore negative publicity casting doubt in Uganda s success in combating HIV/AIDS. He was responding to the London-based international medical journal, The Lancet, which cast doubt on Uganda HIV/AIDS information and the way the data
THE number of AIDS orphans in Uganda has increased five-fold from 177,000 in 1990 to 884,000 at the end of 2001, a joint report by three development agencies indicates, reports Charles Wendo in Barcelona. The Children on the Brink 2002 report says that out of 1.7 million orphans aged 14 and below, about half have lost
TWO ministers on Wednesday defended President Yoweri Museveni before Parliament over HIV/AIDS figures which he gave in his state of the nation address to show achievements made in the war against the epidemic. Capt. Mike Mukula, state minister for health, and Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, the state minister for general duties
The Chairman of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, has appealed for new donations to enable them give more grants to developing countries. Kiyonga, who addressed the press together with other board members, including Milly Katana of Uganda , sa
UGANDA s tremendous feat in reversing the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is not the only chapter in its success story written over the last decade or so. The country is also one of only 10 out of 45 sub-Saharan African countries that is achieving the targets endorsed by world leaders in the year 2000 as common develop
Researchers at the Uganda Virus Research Institute have identified 15 men and women in Kampala and Entebbe who appear to be resistant to HIV. They are married people who do not have the virus despite having unprotected sex with their HIV-positive spouses for long periods, Dr. Anthony Kebba, a researcher, said on Tuesda
The executive director of UNAIDS Dr Peter Piot has defended Uganda s record on fighting the HIV pandemic. A recent article in a British medical journal alleged that Uganda s HIV success story was based on exaggerated figures. Piot said that 8.3 per cent of Ugandan adults were positive in 1999 while the figure today is
A Ugandan soldier who participated in Africa s first HIV vaccine trial has said he was inspired by President Yoweri Museveni. Paul Wetaka, 33, told the ongoing international AIDS conference that he was neither coerced nor paid to receive the jabs. He said while he was in the Presidential Protection Unit, he heard Musev
Uganda s HIV infection rate has declined from the 17th highest in the world in 1999 to the 20th highest currently, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ) has reported. By the early 1990s, Uganda had the world s highest infection rate. A UNAIDS report released in New York on Tuesday indicates that Uga
DOCTORS have reported an increase in the HIV/AIDS spread among teenagers. Dr. Edith Namulema Mengo Hospital s AIDS coordinator, said the infection rate was six times higher in girls than boys, attributing it to increased sexual relations between older men and girls. Namulema was speaking at Uganda Museum w
Uganda has been selected as one of the 12 countries to benefit from grants from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to fight HIV/AIDS. OPEC has earmarked $8.1million (sh14.5b) to be spent through the World Health Organisation projects in the beneficiary countries, the UN agency said in a statemen
-- The year 2000 figures show that 36% of adults (15 to 49 years old) in Botswana are HIV-positive The Radio disease attacked Botswana with vengeful force. First it was a few isolated deaths in 1985. Soon the disease became the talk of the capital, Gaborone. Not that the strange disease was caused by radio active emiss
The Omukama of Bunyoro Kitara, Rukirabasaija Solomon Gafabusa Iguru has warned girls in the kingdom against indulging in early sexual activities that lead to unwanted pregnancy and diseases like AIDS. This was in speech read for him by the prime minister, Elisa Kagoro Byenkya, at the launch of the Adolescent Sexual Rep
Today, it would be news to hear of a family that has never suffered loss of a relative to the AIDS disease A FEW decades ago, it would make big headlines if a person died of AIDS. Today, however, it would be news to hear of a family that has never suffered loss of a relative to the dreaded disease. No doubt, AIDS is pr
The Ministry of Health has ordered for 90million condoms, health ministry officials have said. The co-ordinator of the condom unit, Vasta Kibirige, said the first consignment of 10 million condoms would arrive this year and another 80 million next year. Kibirige said the ministry had recently distributed 50 million con
A person with HIV/AIDS is usually able to continue making valuable contributions towards the success of a company or business enterprise. It is with such a view that the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) encourages companies to adopt policies that enable affected employees to stay at work and give them the confidence to wor
-- An HIV positive employee must be allowed to continue working provided they can meet work performance standards An association of private companies in Uganda has been formed to effectively utilise contributions of the private sector to the national effort against AIDS. The Uganda Business Council on AIDS (UBCOA), whi
Every time a parent gets ill or dies of HIV/AIDS, children become grossly vulnerable to hosts of physical, emotional and societal dangers. In the wake of today s AIDS crisis in Africa, at least 14 million orphans have been left grappling with the dangers associated with the disease. That number, according to a survey,
THE World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have entered into a partnership to support people living with HIV/AIDS. The two UN agencies yesterday signed a US$1,779 (about sh3.2m) is to be spent on food and health care for people living with HIV/AIDS in five districts. The districts are Kampal
OVER sh100m meant for HIV/AIDS programmes during the 2001/2002 financial year in Kapchorwa district, was withheld by the Aids Control Programme (ACP), the New Vision has learnt. Rashid Muzungyo reports that the funds were part of a World Bank grant to help the government address HIV/AIDS problems. The funds were to be
Uganda has been selected as one of the first beneficiaries of a new US programme worth $500m to reduce mother-to-child HIV infection in 12 African and Caribbean countries. Charles Wendo reports that United States President George Bush announced the International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative on Wednesday
THE Uganda AIDS Commission has received a US$315,000 (about Ush.567m) from PFIZER, a multinational pharmaceutical company to conduct a country-wide study on AIDS. The study is intended to compile statistics about Uganda s AIDS fight and current situation to provide a basis of information from which other countries can
ABOUT 2.2m people have been infected with HIV/AIDS in Uganda , the Rt. Rev. Bishop Barnabas Halem imana, the Uganda AIDS Commission chairman, has said. He said of the 2.2m people, 840,000 had died, leaving behind two million orphans. Uganda is faced with the diverse ramifications and devastation the AIDS epidemic has i
Monica Isingoma, 45, whose husband died in 1991 of HIV/AIDS epidemic flashes a bright smile at the mention of St. Francis Health Care in Njeru town council, for the services done in restoring the hope of the people living with HIV/AIDS. Monica has a lot to tell about the life of living with AIDS. She hugged her daughte
As the campaign for microbicides continues, AIDS organisations in Uganda are not about to have their women simply used as guinea pigs. Dr. Josephine Kasolo of Women s Crisis Centre in Kamwokya said: The fact that you are not sure of the products, we need to try the products with a smaller number of women and find out h
A five-man delegation of Botswana members of parliament here to learn from the Ugandan experience of dealing with AIDS, has blamed the scourge on bad customs in some parts of Africa, reports Cyprian Musoke. The visiting team, headed by Jameson Mothrbamele, who is the chairman of the HIV/AIDS committee of the Botswana p
A PROJECT in which HIV positive pregnant mothers receive free doses of drugs that save their babies from the virus, is to become part of routine antenatal services countrywide. Officials from the Ministry of Health and the United Nations children s fund said they were expanding the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Tra
OVER 120 African religious leaders, yesterday convened in Nairobi, Kenya to map out ways of addressing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on children. Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala and Sheikh Twaib Mukuye, the Deputy Mufti of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council were among the spiritual leaders present at the historic inter-faith
UGANDA and Zambia have been selected as the first countries in Africa to benefit from Africare World Space HIV/AIDS Initiative, reports Ebenezer Bifubyeka. The head of Africare World Space HIV/AIDS Initiative in Washington DC, Dr. Clarance Hall, said this at Itojo playground in Ntungamo district on Friday. Clarance
THE African AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) was launched in Cape Town, South Africa on Monday with a call for more funding towards the development of a vaccine for Africa. Jose Esparaza, the WHO- UNAIDS HIV vaccine initiative coordinator, said of all the funds geared towards fighting HIV/AIDS, less than 2% is meant for a
BUSOGA Diocese has got sh280m to sensitise the population especially the youth between 10 and 20 years against the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Diocesan project manager, Rev. Chris Kyewe, has said. Robert Kanusu reports that Kyewe told The New Vision recently that the money would be used to support the Adolesce
The Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) has disbursed over sh375m in grants to nine civil society organisations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The money is part of the US$47.5m World Bank soft loan and US$2.5m counterpart funding from the Uganda government for the five year Uganda HIV/AIDS Control Project (UACP).
US Treasury Secretary Paul O Neill said on Tuesday his country would support various strategies to fight against HIV/AIDS. O Neill said at the end of his two-day visit to Uganda that efforts should be made to treat the sick, promote preventive strategies, search for vaccines and find a cure for AIDS. Our lesson fr
THE United States has donated $16m (about sh28.8b) for AIDS vaccine research in five countries including Uganda . The US Department of State said in a statement the money would be given to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), an NGO facilitating AIDS vaccine research. The money will be spent on designing a
A SINGLE vaccine could in future be able to arrest the various sub-types of HIV that exist across the globe, according to the findings of Uganda s HIV/AIDS vaccine trial. The key man in the trial, Prof. Roy Mugerwa, described the finding as a landmark achievement. Whereas Europe and America have mainly HIV1 subtype B,
The World Bank has given Masindi sh150m to fund activities aimed at reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence in the district under the Uganda AIDS Control Project. The northern region project officer, Peter Cwiny-ai, said the money was for community-based projects to be implemented in a year, begining July. He was addressing a
THE AIDS vaccine trial that has been going on in Uganda since 1999 has been terminated at the end of the first phase. Researchers who conducted the experiment said they will not proceed to the second, third and fourth phases. Instead two other vaccines will soon be tested. The first vaccine code-named ALVAC 205 was dev
THE US congressional international relations committee has heard an heart-breaking testimony about the ordeal of Uganda s two million HIV/Aids orphans, many of whom are left to neglect and abandonment, reports John Kakande. The House Committee on International Relations was holding a hearing on the Orphans and Vulnerab
THE President s Office has directed that all HIV/AIDS programmes be coordinated by the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC). The directive issued yesterday by the Minister for the Presidency, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, follows reports that bickering among the various groups involved in AIDS programmes was likely to derail the figh
Non-governmental organisations have been commended for their efforts to fight HIV/AIDS the communities. Straight Talk Foundation and The Support Organisation (TASO) were hailed for sensitising the masses on the danger of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, the chairman of the Global Fund on AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis on
THE International AIDS Candle Light Memorial was on Saturday commemorated at the Mayor s Gardens in Kampala with a call for collective responsibility to assist HIV/AIDS patients, reports Charles Ariko. The World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative, Oladapo Walker said whereas Uganda had done wel
STATE minister for health Mike Mukula has urged American Peace Corps volunteers to engage in the fight against AIDS during the course of their two-year humanitarian work in different parts of rural Uganda . Mukula was speaking on Saturday at the swearing-in ceremony of 21 new volunteers held at the US Peace Corps offic
FORTY volunteers on whom a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine has been tested, want to be recognised as heroes in the war against the deadly scourge. A spokesperson for the volunteers, Paul Wetaka, said on Friday that they voluntarily took a risk to enter Africa s first AIDS vaccine trial amid hostile rumours. Opponents of the
GULU has been ranked among the districts most hit by the dreaded HIV/AIDS. This has been attributed to the insurgency which has been going on in the region for about 16 years. The director district Health Services, Dr. A.K. Onek, said medical statistics show that about 70 percent of reported cases in hospitals are HIV/
TOP NGOs and private companies leaders in the USA that support world initiatives to combat the HIV/AIDS scourge, have commended President Yoweri Museveni for demonstrating courage and statesmanship in fighting the pandemic. The president and chief executive officer for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, Ms
CONFUSION has emerged over the supply of audio and visual equipment for a World Bank funded HIV/AIDS awareness project expected to cost about US$500,000, reports Yunusu Abbey. The best-evaluated bidders for the Uganda AIDS Control Project tender were the Nairobi-based Epsilon Broadcasting Engineering
THE First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, has received the first ever Global AIDS Leadership Award from an international consortium of HIV/ AIDS organisations. The award has been given in honour of her efforts towards prevention of HIV/AIDS and care to orphans, a press release issued by State House yesterday said. The AIDS
The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) has commended the Government for its commitment in the fight against HIV/AIDS. TASO board of trustees chairman David Byatike Matovu, who is also the Entebbe municipality MP, hailed the role played by the government in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He was speaking at a ground-breaking
THE United States foreign relations committee yesterday hosted President Museveni at the Capitol Hill building in Washington DC, where the senators hailed Museveni s role in the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic, State House said yesterday. The statement said the senators discussed with the President the democratisation
THE Masaka deputy Resident District Commissioner on Sunday blasted parents and guardians of AIDS orphans who reject aid from the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA), saying their children would be converted, reports Eddie Ssejjoba. Teopista Lule Ssenkungu was speaking at a hand-over of relief assistance worth US$6,000 t
THE Member of Parliament for Nwoya county in Gulu district, Zachary Olum, has asked the government to fund efforts to fight AIDS in the war ravaged Acholi region. Kiganda Ssonko reports that Olum made the call while meeting Makerere University students from his constituency at the university s Senate building on Wednes
MAKERERE University students will for the first time be represented on the Senate with the new Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Bill. The university is in the process of nominating new representatives to the senate after the previous membership expired last month on graduation day. The university Academic R
Increased intervention and service coverage will do it. The Government of Uganda recognises the need to avert the looming development catastrophe of HIV/AIDS epidemic by scaling up the national response against HIV/AIDS. This can only be achieved through expanding intervention and service coverage to all corners of the
The star-studded AIDS awareness No Glove, No Love concert in Kampala is set for October 9 - Independence Day. Well informed scouts tell us that amongst the stars performing are Kool and the Gang, Third World, Lucky Dube, Youssur N dour, and Fatima Tiammo. Steve Wonder is also a possibility, reliable sources say. Despit
THE global AIDS awareness campaign, No Glove, No Love, has kicked off in Uganda with a tour of schools around Kampala city, reports Geoffrey Kamali. The campaign started by a US-based non-profit organisation, Africans Unite Against Aids Globally, was launched in Kampala recently. It seeks to persuade youths to use
PARLIAMENT is to create three new Standing Committees on Equal Opportunities, HIV/AIDS and Science and Technology, reports Richard Mutumba. The proposals presently before the House, are contained in the new amendments to the Rules of procedure of the 7th Parliament. The proposals seek to merge the Standing Committees o
THERE is good news for women in particular, and for the whole of mankind. Microbicides (substances that can be applied to a woman s vagina to kill, inactivate or block the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)) can be available in five years time, according to a series of reports by the Rockerfeller Foundation-funded Init
The experimental HIV/AIDS vaccine that is to be tested in Uganda beginning June 2002, on Thursday entered the second phase of trial in the UK. This follows an initial experiment on 26 volunteers, which showed that the vaccine is safe and stimulates the immune system, according to a statement from the International AIDS
The Ministry of Health will continue distributing free doses of Nevirapine, a drug for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission despite America s queries about the research data. The Director General of Health Services, Prof. Francis Omaswa, on Tuesday said though some of the data was missing, there was overw
Researchers say monkeys eaten in Cameroon are infected with SIV, an anscestor of HIV If indeed HIV came from wild primates, then human beings might continue to catch the virus from their wild relatives. The prestigious science journal, Nature, has reported that more than one-fifth of the monkeys sold for meat in the ma
THE national coordinator of Prevention of Mother to Child HIV/AIDS Transmission Programme in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jackson Ojera Abucu, has said HIV/AIDS transmission by sexual intercourse accounts for 80 to 85% of the HIV/AIDS infection in Uganda . Ojera said Mother to Child HIV/AIDS transmissions accounts for 1
A senior consultant physician in Mulago Hospital has attracted sharp criticisms for proposing that government should not waste money in educating students with HIV. Dr. Charles Sezi, a renowned expert on malaria treatment, says Government should subject students to mandatory HIV tests before sponsoring their education
Kasenge LC1 Chairman in Sembabule district Derrick Mukwata is of the view that masturbation is the solution to all those who want both the future and sexual relief. He told a group of unmarried youths March 9 that masturbation is the only safe way for them to survive AIDS and live to enjoy the future fruits. Now why sh
HEALTH experts in Uganda have declined to endorse a food supplement that an American-based company claims can stop people with HIV/AIDS from developing diarrhoea. Legacy for Life last month approached the Ministry of Health to let them supply their product to Uganda. The company claims the supplement, Biochoice Immune
Uganda has many homosexuals, a former director of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), Sophia Monico Mukasa, has said. Mukasa, currently working with the International Council for AIDS Support Organisations (ICASO) based in Canada , said within and without Uganda she had met Ugandan men who have sex with fellow men.
GENDER inequality is the root of the AIDS crisis, a conference on HIV/AIDS held in Kampala over the weekend, was told. The recent trends show more women becoming infected at a very early age. The conference also heard that HIV/AIDS will surpass the bubonic plague as history s worst pandemic. The Hunger Project chief, M
HE has HIV; she does not. But these two are set to wed in church this Saturday, March 16. For the last 11 years, Benard Nzabandora, 46, and Esther Nanyombi, 35, have been cohabiting well knowing that they are in a discordant relationship. They knew they had a problem in their midst, accepted it, and not at any one poin
THE director of the AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), has been appointed to a panel of experts to review funding applications for the Global AIDS Fund, reports Joan Mugenzi. Dr. Alex Godwin Coutinho and 16 others will vet applications from developing countries, a statement from the Global Fund office in Geneva said yes
THE Government has launched a strategy to incorporate an AIDS awareness programme in the agricultural sector. The strategy, code named HAS-net, the HIV/AIDS and the agricultural sector Network in Uganda , brings together the public, private and civil society sector organisations in the country. Agriculture minister
DRUGS that suppress HIV and prolong the lives of AIDS patients have become cheaper, but people who take them say there is no cause for excitement over their price reductions. The anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) that used to cost over $1000 per patient per month, now cost between $40 and $400, according to official sources
Mbarara University has launched a programme to prevent mother to child HIV transmission, Placid Mihayo, the medical director of the hospital, has revealed. We have already secured some drugs like nevirapine , which we will give to pregnant women during labour, he told journalists. Mihayo said babies will also be given
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said Uganda has achieved 100% awareness on HIV/AIDS but he called for more commitment against the pandemic. In Uganda, we have explained what HIV/AIDS is and what it is not. We have explained how it is contracted and how it is not and this is at the core of our HIV/AIDS policy, Museveni s
THE biblical reference to a prophet not being believed in his own home could not hold truer for President Yoweri Museveni. Of course, millions of Ugandans still have faith in the President s ability to steer the country to greater heights. But there is a vocal minority lurking in the shadows that is desperate to take t
THE Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Miria Matembe, has denied allegations that the Government is deploying HIV-infected soldiers in the north. Matembe said there is no Government policy to test people with HIV so there was no way one could know that a soldier is HIV-positive or not. She was reacting to comments from
OVER 200 people, most of them widows and orphans from Kasese town council, have declared themselves to the Resident District Commissioner, Musa Ecweru as HIV/AIDS positive cases. This rare occasion happened on Sunday at Verina Gardens in Kasese town, where Ecweru opened a one-day sensitisation seminar on HIV/AIDS testi
THE Commonwealth has given President Yoweri Museveni a special award in recognition of his personal leadership and strong commitment to the crusade against the HIV/AIDS scourge in Uganda and Africa, reports Alfred Wasike. Museveni yesterday accepted the award from the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Dr Don McKinnon, at
UGANDA IS once again basking in the limelight of further breakthroughs in its fight against HIV/AIDS. A new report by the Medical Research Council shows that the incidence, or new infections, of the virus that causes AIDS, has reduced significantly. In other words, fewer people are now getting the HIV than has been in
AS a region, we are in a do or die situation. We either join forces or risk losing the battle against HIV/AIDS. The UNDP Resident Representative in Uganda , Mr. Dauda Toure, sounded the caution yesterday to a five-day workshop on HIV/AIDS and Development for north-east African countries. The workshop was held at th
CONDOMS have a role to play, but cannot be the main means of stemming the tide of AIDS, the First Lady Janet Museveni has told an international Christian conference in the United States of America. Mrs. Museveni said, The advent of new drugs and condoms which have now become available and which make AIDS sound less dan
Sceptics of the HIV declining prevalence rates in Uganda have nothing to say now, reports Barbara Bitangaro. A new report by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Kyamulibwa, Masaka district, shows that the incidence or the number of new HIV infections has also declined significantly. The number of new infections
MOST religious leaders in Mityana sub-district support condom use but fear to openly say it, a pilot study by the Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU) has revealed. Elly Mugumya, the FPAU executive director, said the bigger percentage of the top clergy are liberal, but the rest were just shy or conservative.
A SENIOR consultant physician at Mulago Hospital, Dr Charles Sezi, has said the Government should review the education policy and sponsor only HIV-negative students to tertiary institutions. Sezi also called for a mandatory annual HIV-screening for such students so that the scarce education resources are not wasted on
THE Okii-cel clan chief, Dr. Elis Owiny Amuza, has warned his subjects against inheriting widows before going for an HIV/AIDS test. He said many of his subjects had died of the disease because they never went for HIV/AIDS tests before inheriting the widows. Owiny, who was accompanied by his wife Betty, was on a familia
BLOOD tests to monitor how AIDS patients bodies are fighting the disease have been reduced from US$40 (sh 68,000) to US$2(sh 3,400), Mike Mukula, the State Minister for health said recently. Kikonogo Ngatya reports that Mukula said the reductions take immediate effect. Two centres, the Uganda Virus Research In
UGANDA has won two of the 21 seats on the administration board of the newly formed Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Uganda also took one of the seven seats for developing countries, according to a January 29 press release from the organisation. a Uganda non-governmental organisation (NGO), Health Rig
The Manager of AIDS Information Centre (AIC) Jinja Branch, Mr. Drake Katongole, has said the centre is to embark on Voluntary HIV counselling and testing among students at schools, to boost the campaign against HIV/AIDS in the country. This was during the first AIDS Information Centre Annual General Meeting at Hotel Tr
IN order to curb the AIDS scourge in Uganda and Buganda kingdom, Mengo has decided to reward men who remain virgins until they are married. The Mengo Minister for Health, Mr. Robert Sebunya, also District Governor of Rotary International Club 9200, on Friday said the move to reward virgin men had received great support
AS Uganda prepares for the HIV vaccine trial that is likely to begin in June 2001, Dr. Pontiano Kaleebu is the main scientist to commend. He is the principal investigator (PI) of the DNA-MVA that is to be tested in Uganda in conjunction with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). As the PI, Kaleebu is th
BLOOD tests to monitor the progress of AIDS treatment will become 90 times cheaper beginning next month, state minister for health, Mike Mukula, has said. Mukula said this yesterday while opening a five-day health advocacy workshop for the Commonwealth countries at the Sheraton Hotel, Kampala. The development comes onl
UGANDA s second AIDS vaccine trial is due in June. The principal investigator of the DNA-MVA vaccine trial, Dr. Pontiano Kaleebu, said, We are in the process of developing the clinical protocol before submission for approval. June is our target if all approval processes go as planned. The vaccine code-named DNA-MVA, wi
A visiting delegation headed by the Ivory Coast First Lady was told by the ACP Programme Manager that many villagers knew little about condoms. Health centres were not necessarily the best place to distribute condoms because not all rural people go to them. Now the ACP is planning to train up a representative in every
THE visiting First Lady of Ivory Coast , Mrs Simone Gbagbo, has invited managers of the Mildmay Centre for Palliative AIDS care to help set up a similar facility in her country. The centre at Lubowa on the Kampala-Entebbe road, specialises in treating and relieving pain in children and adult AIDS patients and also trai
LET S talk about sex. That is what school headteachers will soon be obliged to tell their pupils and students, according to a new government strategy to combat HIV/AIDS. Health Minister Brig. Jim Muhwezi said yesterday that President Yoweri Museveni had directed headteachers of primary and secondary schools to address
HEALTH officials are to deploy volunteers in villages countrywide to distribute free condoms in an effort to control HIV/AIDS and prevent unwanted pregnancies, reports Charles Wendo. The AIDS Control Programme Manager, Dr. Elizabeth Madraa, said on Monday that the village condom distributors would use innovative method
THE monthly cost of AIDS treatment using anti-retroviral drugs has reduced from over US$1,000 (sh1.7m) to $40 (sh72,000) per patient between 1998 and now, health minister Jim Muhwezi said on Monday. Muhwezi said the price reduction had motivated many more people to take HIV tests and enroll for treatment. The least exp
MRS. Janet Museveni, wife of the President, has said social problems have accelerated the HIV/AIDS problem in Africa and that the disease was no longer a mere health problem which can be solved by medical solutions. She made these remarks on Monday at the International Conference Centre, where the visiting First Lady o
The visiting first lady of Cote D ivore, Mrs. Simone E. Gbagbo, has commended Uganda for its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Gbagbo, who is on a one-week visit here to learn Uganda s experience in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, made the remarks on Sunday at a state dinner at Sheraton Kampala hotel host
ROTARY International and Rotary Foundation through the Rotary Club of Rubaga have given a grant of US$10,000 (about sh17m) to the ministry of health in the Buganda government to assist the youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Mr. Robert Ssebunya has said. Ssebunya, the health minister, was opening a one-day youth sensi
A famous African proverb An elephant can never fail to carry it s tusks has been passed on from generation to generation. Often, this happens during nights when children assemble by the hearth to be told stories about life. However, economic constraints have today turned the African culture upside down. The tusks have
The Police force is being depleted of useful personnel by the AIDS scourge, the Inspector-General has warned. Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala who was addressing Police officers in Kasese district yesterday, said, I do not advocate for the so-called protection using condoms. The only way to avoid the scourge is to live a respo
The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala, has warned the police against immorality in order to avoid contracting the deadly HIV/AIDS disease. AIDS is real and deadly and I appeal to all of you to lead responsible lives so as not to get it. If by bad luck you already have it, please limit it to yourself
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.