Remember, HIV/Aids is still a lethal condition and has no cure

As we commemorated World Aids Day on December 1, I quickly looked back.
For the last 30 years, when someone has not been well or passes on and you are told that they ‘have been sick for a long time,’ you don’t ask too many questions. Chances are high that they have succumbed to the dreaded killer condition that is HIV/Aids.

I recall in the mid 80s when we started encountering the disease that wasted away its victim then called ‘slim’. We were very scared because there was very little information about this deadly mystery. We thought you could get it from a handshake, sharing eating utensils, toilet and car seats, etc.
Gradually we learnt that body fluids especially those exchanged through sexual contact were the primary source of transmission.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge and many souls have been lost too. There has been a lot of change. I recall how messages were designed to save people’s lives. The drum was sounded after the news bulletin on radio and TV to remind people of the dangers of HIV/Aids.

The Ministry of Health and the Aids Control Programme advised people to adopt ‘Zero Grazing’ ie have only one sexual partner. Then came the ABC message. Abstain from sex. Be faithful to one sexual partner. Use a Condom. Other people added ‘D’ for ‘Do’ a test and if you find you are positive, take ‘Drugs’ from the ‘Doctor.’ We were also taught about positive living. Prominent people and organisations came out to give the epidemic a human face and demystify it. Philly Lutaaya, Ms Noreen Kaleeba of The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) are cases in point. Drama by groups like Bakayimbira with their play Ndiwuliira featured successfully in this period.
Voluntary testing and counselling became part of our fabric. Radio and television programmes with doctors and other experts helped a lot. I recall people like Dr John Okware. These helped a lot to disseminate information and provide clarity.

In the meantime the ‘cures’ came thick and fast. There was a famous lady called Nnanyonga who failed with a concoction of soil and some other stuff deep in central Uganda. Some said you would survive if you took the stew of boiled dog meat. It didn’t work. Witch doctors were put in their place by this condition because they also succumbed like their patients.
Science brought us drugs like AZT, Kemri, Septrin and so many others until we arrived at the Anti Retrovirals (ARVs) that have prolonged many lives today.
These days a person lives with HIV/Aids for decades and one may never show the terrible signs and symptoms like loss of weight and hair. They may never suffer huge black boils on their skins that in those days made victims hide behind long sleeved shirts and dresses.

ARVs have been a magic bullet and have prolonged the lives of many people. You can hardly tell that one is suffering from HIV/Aids if they are diligently taking their medicines.
Unfortunately, this has come with some complacence. The structure of Uganda’s population has over 50 per cent of it being under 18 years of age. This means many were born after 1998 when the situation was extremely dire. You now see people who don’t look sick yet they carry the virus. To many young people HIV/Aids is curable because ‘there is medicine’ and is not a very serious health challenge.

They did not witness the deaths of the early 80s and 90s. Little wonder that by 2015, new infections nationally stood at about 83,000 cases. The majority of them are among adolescent girls and generally young people between the ages of 18 and 24.
A pharmacist friend of mine told me about the popularity of the morning after pill called Postinor. It stops a user from becoming pregnant if taken within 24 hours after having unprotected sex. A young lady told me as part of a research that she had an abortion. When I asked how she knew who would do it for her considering that abortion is illegal and is done in secret, she said ‘the one who has done it for many of my friends!’

Another a university student told me she slept with many men especially the married ones because they provided her money, ‘things’ and fun which her parents could not afford. Condoms depended on how he looked or the convincing pressure he exerted not to use them or how much alcohol she had taken or if she ‘liked him in her heart!’
The danger of lack of proper information is compounded by the harsh economic times where young people in need of financial assistance have to use their bodies to get it.
If the young who are the future are in danger, so is our future as a country. The young with their energy are our greatest asset for it is they that will be at the forefront in the ICT revolution and all the progress plus challenges that have come with globalisation.

We have to focus on getting it into (our) their heads that HIV/Aids is still lethal and has no cure. We also have to find ways of keeping them away from unprotected sex besides just ‘lecturing’ them. They need to be kept in school to have skills for independence, find well paying jobs, etc.
That now is the greatest challenge, for we have no future without this lot being healthy and alive.
Nicholas Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. [email protected] Twitter: @nsengoba