HIV Advocates in Uganda Losing Faith as Country Works to Prevent and Treat New Infections

Corruption scandals, frequent treatment shortages and accusations of a misguided prevention program have undermined progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda, a country that had won plaudits in the early days of the epidemic for the aggressive stance taken by President Yoweri Museveni.

Uganda lowered its HIV prevalence from 18 percent in the early 1990s to about six percent in 2000. According to PlusNews, "Some of Uganda's most active campaigners in its 30-year fight against HIV are losing faith in the government's ability to effectively counter the epidemic as the country struggles to provide treatment and prevent more than 100,000 new infections every year."

The news service speaks with a number of HIV/AIDS advocates in the country who cite the president's support of prevention programs that do not emphasize condom use, the questioning of evidence-backed prevention techniques such as medical male circumcision, a lack of proper coordination at the top of the HIV response, and the exclusion of grassroots communities in high-level HIV decision-making as issues that have led to "disorganization" and "stagnation" in the country's HIV response.

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