We must tame Mpox
Sex workers on the streets of Kampala City. The rising Mpox infections have been blamed on commercial sex work. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- People are acquiring the disease through commercial sex activities and spreading it to others in the same way. It is not a surprise that cities such as Mbarara, Fort Portal, and Kampala, which are being ravaged by the new HIV infections, are also recording high infection rates for Mpox.
A new report indicates a big increase in Mpox infections in the last month, which is very worrying as there seems to be a general lack of awareness and mobilisation of the people against the disease. The disease was reported in the country in July last year, but its spread is gaining momentum and moving faster than the mobilisation drive against it.
The fact that Kampala receives the bulk of the new infections is more worrying as the city is a melting pot of people from within and outside the country. Any disease outbreak in Kampala could easily spread across the country and even move to neighbouring countries.
But what is more worrying is that the spike in the infections is largely attributed to the sex trade and the December festive season, where people seem to have gone on a rampage and let off their behavioural guard.
Behavioural change and consistent use of condoms had contributed a great deal in controlling the spread of HIV/Aids.
People are acquiring the disease through commercial sex activities and spreading it to others in the same way. It is not a surprise that cities such as Mbarara, Fort Portal, and Kampala, which are being ravaged by the new HIV infections, are also recording high infection rates for Mpox.
Sadly, according to the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Uganda’s Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng, condoms are not the most effective way of preventing infections. The strain in Uganda is largely sexually transmitted, but can still be spread through body contact, which increases the risk.
Therefore, as a country, we must attack the disease the way we fought HIV or even more. We must warn the sex workers and their clients that their behaviour in the trade is endangering the overall health system of the country.
Prevention messages should be more common in the media, including billboards, public fora such as rallies, church services/mass and markets.
Students are soon going back to school and who knows who they have been meeting and what they have been doing during the holidays. This could be another health risk when they meet in schools.
While the country is credited for making great strides in the prevention of HIV, Mpox threatens to take the credit back. The national leaders, community/local leaders, religious leaders, health practitioners, NGOs, politicians must raise their voices against the disease if we are to control the infections now.
