HIV/ AIDS Prevalence; Moral Decay Takes Its Toll on Uganda

By Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

The country once applauded as a role model in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic, is now sending shivers down the spines, not only of Ugandans but the world over, as it dangerously backslides on the glorious achievements. Repercussions of this are not merely dire but they talk of a fundamental problem whose actual cost to the country is continued loss of productive lives, further stunting all attempts at development.

Uganda’s 2011 HIV Indicator Survey indicated that the proportion of Ugandans aged between 15 and 49 infected with HIV has risen and now stands at 7.3%. Among women, the proportion is higher at 8.3%. In the 2004/5 Survey the infection rate stood at 6.4%. 

Worse still, the Survey reveals, the number of new infections has been rising steadily: from 124,000 in 2009 through 128,000 in 2010, and now to approximately 145,000 in 2011. It goes ahead to declare that by all indications, higher new infections are to be registered in the years to come.

“This rising number of new infections exceeds the annual number of patients enrolled into anti-retroviral treatment by two-fold. If this status quo continues the HIV burden in our country is projected to increase by more than 700,000 new infections over the next five years, including an estimated 25,000 unfortunate babies born with the infection each year through no fault of their own,” observes Dr. Vinand Nantulya the Chairman, Uganda Aids Commission.

Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) was established by the Parliamentary Statute No. 2 of 1992 and mandated to oversee, plan and coordinate AIDS prevention and control activities throughout Uganda. It is under the president’s office. The Commission maintains that loss of focus on sex behavior as the center piece for turning off the flow of new infections as well as the introduction of anti-retroviral treatment and other bio-medical interventions are some of the factors responsible for this prevalence rise. Condom use has been identified as the source of false safety and multiple concurrent partners.

The other is behavioral change. UAC says that the solidarity, compassion, commitment and collective focus on behavioral change by a people under siege as exhibited during the late 80s and early 90s have been lost. Parents too have been faulted for abdicating their responsibility of nurturing their children and being their role models.

UAC further identifies the churning out of confusing communications as the third of the factors leading to this escalation in infections. UAC says that those responsible for engaging people with constructive messages have either relaxed or completely abandoned the struggle.

Many people are taking advantage of the epidemic, as a cure continues to elude the dot com era, to make hay while it shines. As some fraudsters continue to claim to have cures to this ogre, others sale dubious drugs to unsuspecting victims as well as those affected by HIV. Even funds for the victims have been robbed; in other instances the drugs have been used as a political tool whereby one’s political leaning determines whether to receive treatment or not.

About the 2011 National HIV Indicator Survey UAC says that it is up to every single Ugandan to eliminate new infections, stigma and discrimination, end AIDS-related deaths, youths choose to protect themselves, adults knowing their status and leaders getting involved, the battle will be won.

 

Most striking is UAC’s call to government and parliament to ensure that interventions by all sectors are well resourced for effective implementation of this campaign. It is one thing UAC to be under the president’s office but another for government to have the resolve to meaningfully steer the campaign forward, anymore.

Uganda’s contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS is well documented the world over. That was during the late 80s and mid 90s. This success story received praises from as high as the then American president Bill Clinton and the American administration as a whole. It was summed up as a result of “the head of the new breed of African leaders” as praises were heaped on Uganda’s own, president Museveni.

From 1993 to 1998 Uganda was overflowing with the Global Funds money meant for scaling up the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. The purpose being that the achievements gained, during a period when silence and finger-pointing characterized this stage of the epidemic, be protected and promoted if other countries were to come out openly to successfully tackle the challenge.  But what followed this enormous international good will was more than shame; it was heart rending!

The manner in which the Global Fund money was wasted and robbed was not only appalling but it was another of the many disregarded warnings pointing to the fact that the country was in the hands of gold diggers. This was a distressed call for help which went unanswered!

It took the intervention of the Global Fund suspension of five grants to Uganda in August 2005, worth US $ 367, for government to institute a judicial commission of inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of the funds.

Asked on the relationship between the HIV/AIDS National Survey’s negative findings and the findings of the Global Fund Commission which he chaired, retired High Court judge James Ogoola told PNS that “because the money was not used for what it was supposed to do, and the little that was done was done inadequately, it must in some own way have some contribution to the problem that is continuing today.

“The fact that this misuse of funds was done at very high levels of government, including ministries, Permanent Secretaries, directors of ministries, and some medical professionals…that fact plus the fact that it was massive. The doers were not a few people, not just ten or 100. They were in thousands!

This was a massive exercise. Now because of that and the massive level, that has also contributed to the negative image in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

Justice Ogoola, who today heads the Judicial Service Commission, is of the view that if Uganda is to reverse the negative figures and even have an HIV/AIDS- free society, then “we must also intensify the fight against immorality, the fight for integrity, the fight for self discipline. We must also intensify the role of our clinics and health services because some of the AIDS is caught through bad hygiene and inadequate health care.

“Therefore, we must put right the policies that we are following. We must put right the people who are in charge of these policies so that a repeat of the Global Funds does not occur.”

After robbery of the Global Fund billions, came the robbery of the Gavi Funds meant for immunization.

Anyone who has nursed, let alone seen an AIDS patient must have witnessed first hand how helpless one can be.  To deny the victims and those affected by HIV AIDS what is meant for them you have to be evil incarnate. But that is what the country’s rulers, who keep reminding everyone that they are freedom fighters, are doing. They are evil incarnate.

It is true that this very regime played a key role in raising awareness about the rampaging virus in the late 80s. By critically looking at who they are and what they have done since they grabbed power in 1986, one can infer that it was not an act of good will; Museveni and cohorts jumped on the anti AIDS campaign in order to be accepted on the local and global stage. It is an open secret that these people had a litany of atrocities, advocated for weird policies and were against established institutions as well as progressive and independent-minded individuals.

As AIDS ravaged peasants in the Southern areas of Uganda, the newly rich seized this opportunity to conceal their true identity. This once prosperous part of the country was devastated by the 1979 war that ousted Idi Amin and had not recovered in 1985 when Museveni and his National Resistance Army rebels pitched there camp for their final push on the capital Kampala. The region was already in free fall.

One can refer to the period from 1986 to 1991 as the time when Museveni and his henchmen showed their best side while concealing their true evil one which is raring its head for the whole world to see now. By then many people, apart from those who had prior knowledge of their true identity, considered them the long awaited saviors of the country. But as time progressed, their true identity reared its ugly head and everything began to fall apart. That is what the 2011 National HIV Indicator Survey emphasizes; there is nothing new as such. This can only be hailed as new by those who want to play the ostrich and hide their heads in the sand.

The trend Uganda is taking is that of forcing people to see the reality, shutter masks and demand for accountability and action. Without discipline, self respect, high self esteem and a sense of shame it is impossible to care about human dignity. That is why president Museveni keeps claiming that he alone has a vision for Uganda as if he founded the country. But the more he imposes himself on the country, the more insecure he becomes and destruction sets in.

When he had just captured power in 1986, Museveni bought his bed from the local carpenters. He ordered for Toyota Laurels which had low fuel consumption. It is the same Museveni who in early 2007 had two private jets. He has to fly his daughter to Germany in a private jet to give birth. He also travels in a convoy of twenty fuel-guzzling vehicles. But Uganda has the worst health facilities in the East African region.

The period under review has a number of prominent incidents but all of them point to the evil bit of the powers that be. The robberies of public funds and resources, incessant riots against the different forms of oppression, the rising cost of living due to the criminals controlling the economy and the state-inspired murders are some of the ills that stand out.

UAC’s reasons for the resurgence of HIV/AIDS are half truths at best; the real cause of this is the systematic moral decay afflicting Uganda. Whoever cares is aware of the robberies going on in the country but orchestrated by the rulers. Even the money meant for the rehabilitation of the Northern region which this same government subjected to dehumanizing conditions for two decades has not been spared! That public funds cannot be protected by the Prime Minister, the person entrusted with overseeing government business, ably sums up where the country is headed to.

That all this is happening in the Office of the Prime Minister simply confirms that the rot, primitive accumulation of wealth and the moral decay in the country flow from the rulers to those they rule. At least 60 billion shillings has been robbed in this scam where funds for official work were deposited on personal accounts of some OPM staff accounts.

And even though some culprits or fronts like the Permanent Secretary Pius Bigirimana and the accountant Godfrey Kazinda, as well as some Bank of Uganda officials have been singled out, the rulers have found it appropriate to use the tax-payers’ money to refund the stolen funds as donors cut off the aid taps.

If you still cannot appreciate the levels of moral decay in Uganda, just look at the VIP treatment government gives the likes of Basajjabalaba, Kazinda, Bigirimana and all that pack of politically-connected figures used as conduits to siphon off public funds, and the savage treatment of MPs, journalists, civil activists and politicians demanding for accountability and service delivery.    

How about the daylight murders of people with political views different from the powers that be!

A colleague at Pearl News Service had an assignment with The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) which involved a number of activities and moving to different parts of the country. Because TASO, then, had a policy of employing those who had tested positive, some people were misled into thinking that whoever was there was infected.

This misconception helped the journalist to eavesdrop on the conversations of these people which mainly focused on what they were going through. Some girls/women had the guts to inquire from others the numbers of those they had so far infected with the virus! They would go on to declare that they will not spare one who is “absent minded” referring to those who do not care to use the condom, because they too never wanted to contract the virus!

Others narrated how they were finding it difficult to pass on the virus because they had “sprayed.” In Luganda it is called okufuuyira. This simply refers to one who has developed sores on the skin. They went on to discuss tricks of successfully passing on the virus and these included buying of condoms, poke holes in the condoms and offer them to sex partners for use.

“When you buy very many of them and pierce holes in them it is hard for one to be suspicious. You put about five condom sachets on the table for him to choose,” the conversations raged on!

Although the men too supported the poking of holes in the condoms, some advocated for outright rape if the partner tried to resist sex without a condom. While Police records indicate a surge in rape cases, it is worth noting that majority rape cases go without mention as victims decide to suffer in silence.

It is high time the country stopped being surprised by the findings of the Survey, most especially the revelation that 400 Ugandans are being infected on a daily basis.  

The Survey is sending out an appeal that many people prefer to neglect, for selfish reasons, or just do not bother to give ample attention passing on the responsibility of rectifying the anomaly to others. The message is that of regime change as Dr. Kiiza Besigye and other people, including those in the ruling National Resistance Movement are spearheading. Twenty six years at the helm of a country is too long for a person to remain focused, committed, relevant and considerate. Currently Museveni is drunk with power and all he considers important is how to cling to it.

And it is not only HIV and AIDS that is escalating; the health sector is at its worst, freedoms are curtailed at every turn, poverty is forcing parents to sell their property- including land -to send children to school and people are being evicted from land and have become refugees in their own country. Public properties are being personalized at a rate that is threatening the existence of schools.

HIV/AIDS is receiving a lot of attention due to the fact that it is mainly spread through sex and also the trillions of dollars sunk in research so far. Up to now it is still evading cure. Otherwise everything in Uganda is going terribly wrong. And it is systematically, deliberately and confidently being designed that way to ensure maximum destruction.

No person, stable upstairs, can claim ignorance of the lack of cure for HIV/ AIDS. After all these years and effort put in to sensitise the public, the rate at which the virus has returned to devastate the country should only be witnessed at the finding of a cure; the excitement alone would run many crazy to the extent of engaging in dangerous sexual behaviours.

Any one concerned with the HIV/AIDS prevalence should be more concerned with malaria which is a leading killer disease. It is an open secret that nets meant for distribution for free to curb malaria are on market for sale. So are the vital drugs. Those drugs which are not stolen are left to rot in the stores while malaria ravages the country.

What matters in Uganda today is the amount of money the rulers, their children and cohorts can accumulate; not the numbers that succumb to malaria, HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases.

The moral decadence afflicting Uganda is all there is to show for this HIV prevalence. That is why no amount of funding, information dissemination, blood tests and all the other prevention strategies will succeed in reversing the devastating HIV prevalence with a criminal and morally deficient regime in place. If Uganda indeed is to once again wage a successful campaign against HIV/AIDS then regime change must be at the fore front.

In fact regime change must be at the heart of the HIV/AIDS national prevention strategy to successfully reverse the HIV prevalence. That is the only viable means of putting the country on a path to moral revival. As for now, the country is racing to excel in doing evil.

The family, the nursery for social norms and values, as well as spiritual development has instead become the first point where children learn of hatred, murder, devil worshipping and all other evil acts one can think of. And from a morally bankrupt home, the kid lands in an equally bankrupt society awash with disastrous exposure to pornography and misleading information by the gutter press with strong connections to the powers that be.   

The carnage on Uganda’s roads keeps rising every other day although traffic Police presence is visible on all major roads. Commercial motor cycles referred to as boda bodas are practically used to murder innocent people but why won’t government regulate them first before regulating the freedom of assembly and expression! Zebra crossings are more of decorations on Uganda’s roads which even the Police cannot respect.

The storm caused by the suspicious death of the Butalejja Woman MP Celina Nebanda can only take place in a morally bankrupt country like Uganda. For God’s sake why should the president be upset because the Speaker of Parliament and some MPs denounce government’s version of the causes of the MP’s death? Uganda would be a far better country if president Museveni was equally upset by the moral decay, the robbery of public funds and resources, disrespect for freedoms and the institutional breakdown.

Once moral decadency sets in, people seize to reason and take to using their heads for wearing hats. It is also the time to hear highly educated people talk like they have never seen a blackboard! Even elders fail to offer guidance to the young and instead behave like kids; they go to the extent of stammering as if they are only learning how to talk once faced with critical national issues. Welcome to Uganda a country aiming to halt deaths from AIDS-related conditions by the year 2015! But anyone who cares will conclude that this is not stuff for countries in the precarious state similar to that Uganda finds herself in.

On April 13, 2013 Kitovu Mobile held a fundraising in preparation of their celebrations marking 25 years of caring and giving hope to those affected by HIV/AIDS. While Kitovu Mobile is upbeat for this landmark achievement, they are also remembering president Museveni’s hot air; he promised money towards the construction of a building where the HIV/AIDS patients will be attended to. Even the three vehicles he promised so as to ease transport for the doctors are no where to be seen.

This particular case brings to mind the billions the president incessantly donates to his close collaborator Hassan Basajjabalaba, quack investors and the billions he refunded to the donors after at least 60 billion shillings, meant for the reconstruction of Northern Uganda, was robbed under Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi’s nose. You might be right that this is Museveni’s new strategy in fighting HIV/AIDS.

It is further worth remembering the taunting Kizza Besigye was subjected to in 2006, by president Museveni, when he offered himself for the presidency of Uganda. Museveni went around telling the country that Besigye should not be elected president because he is HIV positive!

AIDS prevalence in Uganda should only surprise those who are not keenly following what is going on the country. But all this is the result of government’s failure to improve the quality of life of those living with or affected by HIV. Those coming in to support do so because they appreciate the fact that living positively is a challenge that needs a lot of care and support beyond the ARVs and treated mosquito nets.

Life is becoming hard every other day as government consolidates on its formation of a desperate citizenry that sees no meaning in life. All these are bound to negatively impact on the gains made against the epidemic and even worsen the conditions. That is what is happening in Uganda under Museveni.

It is self defeating to claim success over HIV/AIDS when people are going without food, traumatized by poverty, there are no drugs in hospitals and patients are treated as biological substances by rude and poorly paid medical personnel.

Ermeyas Mekonen, an Ethiopian journalist living with HIV/AIDS made some observations to the effect that HIV and AIDS education can improve the person’s knowledge about HIV and AIDS but it does not necessarily result in reducing the chances of being infected by the virus. There has to be environmental support to stimulate and maintain.

“There is a funny terminology that we hear among People Living With HIV and AIDS. They say there are two kinds of people around HIV and AIDS: the PLWHA and the People Living On HIV AIDS. While HIV is a problem to the former group it is a source of wealth and businesses for the later.”

Justice Ogoola called the Global Funds robbery “a tragedy in which the greatest losers have been the people of Uganda. As the sick lay dying, the greedy middlemen dived for the kill.”

Moral uprightness, self discipline, social justice and a sense of commitment are great pillars on which today’s stable and developed nations have been built. Where these are lacking, like in Uganda, no development program can succeed.