President Yoweri Museveni has reiterated his call to Ugandans to prevent themselves from getting infected with HIV/AIDS by ending prostitution which he said was main cause of HIV/AIDS infections.
The President made the remarks during the World AIDS Day commemoration held at Bukungu Primary School, Bukungu Town Council, Buyende District on Sunday.
The commemoration ran under the theme: “Accelerating Interventions to End HIV/AIDS by 2030”. The President explained that AIDS is really a problem caused by indiscipline.
“You people please don’t keep playing around with this problem. Yes, the drugs are there to suppress the virus, but it’s not eliminated. But the advantage we are looking for in suppressing the virus is that when it is much suppressed, the virus doesn’t spread so much,” he advised.
“Please stop this indiscipline. All Ugandans should stop living a risky life. You hear the statistics that in the whole world there are 39 million people with the virus. People in the whole world are like 7 billion. Now out of the 39 million, 1.4 million are in Uganda, that is a high figure. Why should this be the case?” he wondered.
Furthermore, the President advised that when someone tests HIV positive, he/she should start taking drugs as prescribed by health practitioners so that they are able to stay alive and healthy.
“Although it’s not what I prefer for you, it’s better than dying because if you live longer, you will be able to look after your children so by the time you leave this world, they are in a better position. You can work, make a contribution and as you have heard, you are less infectious if the viral load is suppressed. Therefore, from a national point of view, it’s good because it will stop you from spreading the virus more aggressively.”
President Museveni also lauded the Ugandan researchers who are moving in the right direction to make a vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
“There are even our children who are threatening to treat AIDS completely by killing the virus. I’m going to support and fund them fully,” he said.
“As we are still struggling with the ARVs, our people have found a medicine where you take one injection every two months instead of taking tablets every day. I want to thank our scientists for really doing a good job.”
