Young generation should stay away from the Devil - HIV/AIDS

Stay away from the “Devil” himself

When we were growing up, my grandmother used to gather us up every evening while on holiday to narrate stories and ask us how our day had been. Being the only girl in a bunch of male voices, most of the time I would just listen attentively to every single word. And like they say “listening is a virtue” and I learnt a lot. My mother watching from a distance, always made sure that the scripture and Bible stories were part of the package for this would make us grow in the fear of the Lord.

The most captivating story was about the “Devil himself”. Silence was an indication that everyone’s heart beat was racing due to fear the story inspired in us! The devil was described to have sharp long claws, long hands, black as charcoal, red eyes, and scary protruding teeth that will haunt and devour us if we don’t stop doing wrong. When in bed, the dreams of the scary creature would keep emerging and not to be associated to the devil’s child we always tried to do right at all times.

In this age and era, HIV/AIDS is worse than the devil himself. It’s sad that HIV prevalence is taking root in the young generation. Getting back to history, the first HIV/AIDS case was identified in the country along the shores of Lake Victoria in 1982. Superstitions and witchcraft characterized the initial response from communities amidst lack of clear government response to HIV/AIDS. Consequently, the epidemic progressed very fast to all parts of the country initially concentrating in urban and semi-urban centres. In Sub Saharan Africa, where Uganda lies, bears the heaviest burden of the epidemic accounting for 28.5 million children and adults (about 64%) of those living with HIV/AIDS globally while about 97% of the AIDS related deaths in 2005 alone occurred in this region.

As we speak, Uganda has the highest proportion of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS worldwide, and 7.2 percent of Uganda’s population is living with HIV. This amounts to an estimated 1.4 million people, which includes 190,000 children. An estimated 62,000 people died from AIDS in 2011 and 1.1 million children have been orphaned by Uganda's devastating epidemic. HIV prevalence has been rising since its lowest rate of 6.4 percent in 2006. New infections are diagnosed in 150,000 people a year, of whom 20,600 are children. Sadly, almost a quarter of people living with HIV in Uganda are part of the education system - like students. Only 39 percent of young people aged 15 to 24 know all the necessary facts about how HIV can be prevented, suggesting a lack of clear sex education in schools and hence having more HIV prevalence in women/girls at 5.4 percent, compared to 2.4 percent amongst men/boys.

Every minute that passes by, the devil keeps on spreading wings trying to get the young people and deny them a bright future by getting them involved in risky sexual behavior. The increased exposure of youth to pornographic materials has a direct impact of on their sexual behavior.

However, a lot more can be done to stop the long hands of the enemy. Like the fear the devil inspired in us, HIV/AIDS should scare the young people off all channels of the killer disease. There is need for effective Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers (VCTs) which are not discriminatory not to hinder many young people seeking for counseling, getting tested and accessing treatment (including access to life saving ARVs). Behavioral change communication messages should be emphasized to involve the young people and conceptualize them towards a youth focused environment.

The ABC approach should be repackaged to emphasize “A” for abstinence considering it’s the only sure ticket to a free HIV generation. Comprehensive curriculum expansion of peer education activities including peer counseling, and mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into all youth

Programmes and activities should be considered. Youth-adult relationships need to be built firmly because young people need role models, people they can trust and relate to.

If we are to make significant advancements in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the young generation we must ensure that young people are included at the frontlines of the struggle. It’s time to stay away from the “devil himself”, get tested, know your status and live a healthy life, if positive, get counseling and live a healthy positive life.

The devil – HIV/AIDS is a living reality but together we can avoid it by living our lives responsibly, the future is in our hands as the young generation.