Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - October 28, 2003
Charles Wendo and Richard Komakech
"I have lived with HIV for nearly 20 years and I don't think I will be killed by this thing, because I have disarmed it. I will die of age, not AIDS," he declared on Sunday.
His words inflamed hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) from around the world, who have gathered in Uganda for the 11th International Conference for PLWHA. They cheered as Ruranga gave a moving testimony.
President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday opened the conference, which is being attended by more than 800 PLWHA at Speke Resort Munyonyo. He also launched the national forum for PLWHA.
Uganda was selected to host the conference because of the achievements the country has made against HIV/AIDS, and President Yoweri Museveni's commitment to fighting the epidemic.
It is the second time the conference is held in Africa. More than 800 people from around the world are attending it.
Museveni said the HIV prevalence in the population had declined from an estimate of 18% in the early 1990s to 5% now.
He said this achievement was possible because the Government raised an alarm early enough to alert the population about the danger, and advised on how to avoid getting infected.
He said contrary to the popular view, condom use was not the main cause of HIV decline in Uganda.
"In terms of per capita condom use, some of the countries have higher condom use than Uganda yet they have higher HIV prevalence. That shows you the decline was due to behaviour change and this was due to the alarm we raised," he said.
Museveni said the time was ripe to make a law that allows Uganda to produce or make generic AIDS drugs without necessarily getting permission from the patent holders.
This was the first time he spoke in favour of generic drugs. He criticised Ugandan scientists for not doing enough research on AIDS. "I built the Joint Clinical Research Centre for you to do research but it appears you are waiting for Europeans to come and do research for you," he said.
Ruranga said he had lived long mainly because he became hopeful that having HIV was not the end of the road.
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