By Steven Enatu
SOROTI
The young and adolescents have been urged to embrace the much desired fight to end HIV/AIDS by 2030. This is through knowing their status and living accordingly in a responsible manner.
This was raised by Emmanuel Ilaborot Otim, the National Young Adolescent Peer trainer and also the Mr. Y+ Eastern Uganda attached to TASO Soroti region project in relation to the worlds AIDS day celebrated yesterday 1st December.
This year’s World AIDS Day was celebrated under the theme, “Positioning young people and adolescents efforts in the fight to end stigma, AIDS and Pandemics.”
Ilaborot said that positioning adolescents and young people is a gap that needs to be closed and it’s the only way of preventing new infections.
He said many people are aware of HIV as a virus which leads to AIDS but they are becoming more comfortable in the sense that young girls are only afraid of getting pregnant instead of AIDS lately.
“Many young girls and adults are so much engaging in generational sex especially in this times of covid-19 hence stifling the fight against ending new HIV/AIDS infections,” he said.
He also added that HIV has taken a new trend becoming hard to detect that someone is living positively compared to the past and through this many young people have ended up being blindfolded that there is treatment without assessing the cost implication and how expensive it’s to live on drugs.
This he said can be solved by engaging them to be champions in ending HIV/AIDS through activists for their right and for those living positively to create safe space against stigma and discrimination.
“It’s high time we wake up as young people, we have the ability, the energy to fight together and end HIV/AIDS by 2030 by being conscious of our lives, avoid risky behavior. Young people can use condoms correctly and seek contraceptives where necessary,” he said.
Joshua Okello, the Deputy Speaker Soroti District Local Government, a youth and District councilor representing Gweri Sub County said that the young people need to dissociate themselves from acts that endanger them into acquiring HIV/AIDS.
He advised them to avoid discriminating and stigmatizing people who are living positively but rather give them a hand in encouragement and creating safe environment for them.
“As young people let’s take full responsibly of ending HIV/AIDS by embracing the ABC, I know many may look at AIDS as something that we can survive with but it’s very expensive, we need to guard on this,” he said.
There was a lot of stigma and discrimination that no one would feel like getting close to a person living positive.
This was not until the implementing partners and government laid out strategies on curbing mainly stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS.
Through this we now see people accepting people living with HIV/AIDS in society.
The world AIDS day is commemorated every year on the 1st December to raise awareness of HIV pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infections and mourning those who have died of the disease.
Stigma and Discrimination
Otim is a strong advocate whose effort is geared towards the end of HIV new infections.
To him, government needs to introduce some polices and laws against stigma and discrimination that he says may stifle the effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He says the two issues have made some people within the community still afraid to seek services like testing, taking their drugs and youth friendly services like condoms among the adolescents.
To confront stigma and build empathy for the resilient spirit of those facing the challenges of HIV/AIDS, Ilaborot says he usually shares his personal stories about living with HIV through social media, and encourages others to join the efforts to banish stigma – a major roadblock to both prevention and treatment.
“Stigma is still presence in the communities and it’s what we are battling to eliminate, personally I battled self-stigma but later on managed it and came out openly, now I run all my social media accounts, Facebook Immanuellah Otim advocating an end to stigma and discriminations,” he said.
