'One million HIV tests on World AIDS Day' campaign

Submitted by davidsmuk about 1 year ago

WHO estimates that 23 million people are living with HIV and AIDS globally, and that 5.7 million urgently need antiretroviral therapy (ART). Less than three million people have access to the treatment.

Uganda’s Ministry of Health estimates that one million people are living with HIV and AIDS in the country with more than 300,000 people in need of ART. Just half that number have access to it.

Most people around the world have not been tested for HIV, with ignorance, stigma, a lack of or limited access to services and negative attitudes cited as reasons for a failure to be tested. Where services do exist, people have not sought them for fear of finding out they are HIV positive.

Just 21% of Ugandans have been tested for the virus, making it difficult for the government and other institutions to accurately plan prevention and care programs. Women living with HIV continue to pass the virus to their children, despite the presence of services to help prevent mother-to-child transmission.

The global campaign to ensure universal access to treatment and prevention services has been undermined by the poor responses of governments to HIV testing. Many people have died of HIV and AIDS-related illnesses despite the fact that in many cases they are preventable.

Some people have contracted HIV after wrongly assuming they already had the virus and failing to take precautions against transmission. Others have tested negative for HIV and have been motivated to change certain behaviors in order to protect themselves.

World AIDS Day 2008 Theme

While the World AIDS Day (WAD) theme is universally acknowledged to be 'Leadership' in 2008, the “One Million HIV Tests World AIDS Day Campaign” theme has been adopted in Uganda as a sub-theme to drive activities during this period.

The sub-theme is in line with 2001 UN General Special Assembly on AIDS (UNGASS) statements, in which world leaders committed to address HIV and AIDS with sincerity, and more resources, for a decade. UNGASS also adopted the “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise” slogan to serve as a unilaterally endorsed ten-year global World AIDS Campaign theme.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)-Uganda is taking part in the global testing campaign from November to December with the aim of increasing awareness of the benefits of HIV testing and pursuing universal access goals. The objectives are to:

1. Mobilize communities and sensitize them to the benefits of HIV testing, as well as increasing access to HIV testing;
2. Stimulate service providers to reach out to more people through innovate approaches so as to increase the uptake of preventative mother-to-child transmission services;
3. Help individuals who test positive to seek timely care and treatment, and to help those with a negative status to access the information and education needed to adopt safer sex practices.

In organizing the campaign and World AIDS Day efforts, Uganda decentralized the World AIDS Campaign to involve grassroots communities that previously had not taken part and did not understand the event’s importance.

Districts have implemented campaigns that have had significant impacts on the communities involved. The decentralization format will be maintained for this campaign and all district leaders, in partnership with civil society and networks of people living with HIV and AIDS are charged with mobilizing their communities to implement the HIV test campaign.

AIDS Care Foundation - Uganda Cares, one of Uganda’s major partners in providing testing and ART took the lead to implement the campaign. The Uganda AIDS Commission, within its coordination mandate has constituted a national multi-sectoral organizing committee (NOC) to plan for the campaign. The NOC has been meeting to gather ideas and identify activities that can make a successful campaign.

The notable progress made so far on this is;

• Uganda signed the commitment to the “One million HIV Test Campaign”;
• The campaign was launched on 7 November 2008 in the Tororo district during the commemoration of the Philly Lutaaya Day and Oyam launched theirs on 13 November at Minakulu, alongside the mosquito net campaign launch;
• Uganda Cares started mobilizing and testing people in various communities and are planning to release the numbers tested in the near future;
• A National Organising Committee (NOC) was established and several meetings have been held.

Some of the planned major pre and post-World AIDS Day activities include:

• Other districts organizing to launch the World AIDS Day “One Million HIV Test Campaign”, for example Masaka on 28 December;
• Makerere University hosting inter-university HIV counselling and testing (HCT) celebrations;
• World AIDS Day Cup – A football match is planned at KCC grounds;
• The AIDS Information Centre is organizing a sensitization and awareness walk on 22 November and thereafter, offer free VCT services to couples and youths;
• A Children’s Concert at JCRC Gardens at Mengo on 6 December;
• A VIP Concert at Theatre Labonita on 5 December;
• Planning a Family Concert at Sesse Gateway Beach on 7 December;
• Other agencies are doing a lot to ensure HIV counselling and testing are achieved;
• Radio and TV programs have been planned and newspaper articles;
• UAC/Media Directors’ are to meet to discuss partnerships and social responsibilities;
• A mini-football league to identify teams to compete for the World AIDS Day Cup.

Activities for World AIDS Day 2008 Celebrations in Uganda

The campaign is running through November and December 2008. The D-day will be marked on 1 December in all districts. Kampala will host the event at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium.

Activities will intensify during the last week of November and will run until 1 December. However, HCT mobilization efforts will continue. Planned activities include but are not limited to:

1. VCT/HCT in outreach sites and facility services;
2. Community mobilization;
3. Public education through various media (radio, television, print and oral theatre);
4. IEC material development and dissemination;
5. Community film shows;
6. Exhibitions;
7. Testing celebrities and leaders as role models;
8. Football Matches and press conference.

Since every district will be observing this day in their respective selected district venues, officials and leaders are encouraged to identify their chief guests to officiate at the event. The President of the Republic of Uganda will attend the event at Lugogo as he will be recommitting the government’s political will to the national AIDS response.

The World AIDS Day program for the event at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium will include marching through the city, exhibitions of HIV and AIDS works, edu-tainment, speeches, HCT for children and adults, and the AIDS Cup Football match between selected teams.

Uganda’s AIDS Commission has appealed to all Ugandans to take the “One million HIV test campaign” seriously and to seek testing at their nearest service point. Parents or guardians should guide their children. School students should guided and supported by teachers and their peers. Spouses should encourage each other to go for testing.

Leaders of the self-coordinating entities (SCEs) should communicate this important message to their constituencies to ensure effective participation and support local governments. Let us, therefore, join the “One Million HIV Tests World AIDS Day 2008 Campaign” and help make Universal Access to treatment and prevention a reality.

For more details, please contact:

The Coordinator,

Advocacy and Public Relations,

UAC

Plot 1-3 Salem Bey Road;

P.O. Box 10779,

Kampala - Uganda.

Tel: +256-41-288065

E-mail: uac@uac.go.ug

website: www.aidsuganda.org

Together we share the challenge

Keywords: advocacy AIDS AIDS Day campaign Celebrations drug resistance HIV TB tuberculosis WAD 2008

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