MP Niwagaba Applauds MoH, WHO, USAID for the Role Played in Fighting AIDS

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By Gideon Tumwijukye

KABALE: As Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate world AIDS day, the Ndorwa East legislator Hon. Wilfred Niwagaba has applauded the ministry of Health (MoH) World Health Organisation (WHO) and USAID for providing drugs which has prolonged the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

“I thank the ministry of health and donor community particularly WHO and USAID which have ensured that victims of HIV/AIDS have drugs that has prolonged their lives”

While speaking to thesourceug.com reporter, Hon. Niwagaba if it was not ministry of health and donor community, many HIV/AIDS patients would be dead.

Hon. Niwagaba implored those who are not yet infected particularly the youths to abstain, the married to be faithful and those who can’t abstain or be faithful to use condoms

“I implore those not yet infected particularly the youths to practice A(abstainance) for the married to practice B (Be faithful) and for those incapable of practicing A and B to use C (Condom)”.

He pays heartfelt condolences to souls of those who passed on due to HIV/AIDS and comforted the bereaved families especially the orphans.

World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.

This World AIDS Day 2022 is being marked under the theme “Equalize” – a message highlighting the need to ensure that essential HIV services reach those who are most at risk and in need, particularly children living with HIV, key populations to HIV, and their partners. Also, this year, only eight years are left before the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a global health threat.

Despite global efforts spanning over 30 years, HIV remains a major public health issue that affects millions of people worldwide. According to data released by the World Health Organization, of the 38 million people living with HIV, 5.9 million people who know they have HIV are not receiving treatment. A further 4 million people living with HIV have not yet been diagnosed.

The data also shows that while 76 percent of adults overall were receiving anti-retroviral treatment that help them lead normal and healthy lives, only 52% of children living with HIV were accessing this treatment globally in 2021.

Also, the organization notes that there’s still a high number of new infections where 70 percent of these HIV infections are among people who are marginalized and often criminalized. For instance, data show transmission rates are still high among men who have sex with men even as there has been a reasonable decline overall across other categories on the African continent.