Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS is far from over, and the biggest victims now are the youth, especially girls under 24, many of whom are already married!
Speaking ahead of this year’s Candlelight Memorial Day set for May 16th, Vincent Bagembe, Director of Planning at Uganda AIDS Commission, issued a chilling warning: “Uganda records 38,000 new HIV infections annually that’s nearly 1,000 new cases every week and a third of them are among adolescents aged 15-24.”
But it gets worse
“Young women and adolescent girls make up the bulk of these new infections,” Bagembe stressed. “That’s the most vulnerable group today.”
This year’s memorial, under the theme “Ending AIDS by 2030 – Building a Sustainable Response”, will include a solidarity walk from Constitutional Square to Ntinda, medical camps, and strong calls to end complacency.
He cited that while 92% of the 1.49 million Ugandans living with HIV know their status, there’s still an 8% margin, people unknowingly carrying and spreading the virus.
To Uganda’s youth, Bagembe had one message: “The virus is still here. Don’t be deceived. The fight isn’t over.”
Even President Museveni has called for renewed urgency, using the term “Enduru” (Runyankore for “Alarm”), to signal that Ugandans must wake up before more lives are lost to the epidemic.
