Cross posted from Public Health Ambassadors Uganda

According to UNAIDS, more than 35 million people are now living with HIV, with over 3.2 million under the age of 15. In 2013, an estimated 2.1 million people were newly infected with HIV, with over 240,000 under the age of 15. Every day more than 5,700 people contract HIV, nearly 240 every hour, and in 2013, 1.5 million people died from AIDS. Since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 78 million people have contracted HIV and close to 39 million have died of AIDS-related causes. In 2013, around 12.9 million people living with HIV (37% of the total) had access to antiretroviral therapy.

More than two-thirds (70%) of all people living with HIV, 24.7 million, live in sub-Saharan Africa including 91% of the world’s HIV-positive children. In 2013, an estimated 1.5 million people in the region became newly infected. An estimated 1.1 million adults and children died of AIDS, accounting for 73% of the world’s AIDS deaths in 2013.

The World AIDS Day is about increasing awareness, fighting stigma, improving education, mobilizing resources and raising funds to better our response to HIV and AIDS. 2.5 million people continue to be infected with HIV each year, with 2,400 young people newly infected every day. Raising awareness and knowledge of HIV is crucial to get these figures to zero. The World AIDS Day 2014 theme was “Getting to Zero in Africa- Africa’s Responsibility, Everyone’s Responsibility” resonating with the global themes (2012-16) Getting to Zero- Zero new HIV infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS-Related deaths.

In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2014, Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) emphasized a holistic approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS. This emphasis is based on the five prevention strategies; Abstinence, Being faithful, Condom use, Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT), Safe Male Circumcision as well as routine HIV counseling and testing among singles and couples. However, the prevention strategies can only have positive impact through establishment of partnerships and synergies across different sectors and support from development partners.

We at Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) in partnership with the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) organized the 1^st World AIDS Day Flash Mob in Uganda aimed at increasing awareness about the HIV prevention strategies; abstinence, being faithful, condom use, and elimination of mother to Child transmission of HIV (EMTCT), safe male circumcision as well as routine HIV counseling and testing among couples, using an edutainment, informative and performance arts approach.

Furthermore, with support from Uganda Cares, TASO Mulago, International Health Sciences University (IHSU), UAP Insurance, British Airways and A & S Electronics, young people received free voluntary counseling as well as testing (VCT) services and free condoms as their dual protection against HIV/AIDS, STIs and unplanned pregnancy.

 

 

More so, empowering young people with HIV related information is also key in getting the figures to zero. Therefore, Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) engaged five youth dance groups namely; Storm Riders Dance Crew, Kingdom Swagga Krew, Stormers, Chains Off Salsa group and Integrity Power to come up with an edutainment and informative flash mob with over 50 dancers with emphasis on the HIV prevention strategies as mentioned above which was staged at Colville Street, Kampala road at 5pm. The flash mob attracted over 500 young people working within and around the city center who provided the audience with thrilling and epic dance moves from the different dancers / participants. The dancers wore branded t-shirts with #Getting2Zero, #Everyone’sResponsibility message plus a drop down banner that was dropped with similar message.

We at Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) believe that the #Getting2Zero Campaign will run throughout 2015 reaching out to the different regions of the country using an edutainment, informative and performance arts approach. This is because the spread or the fight is not a one day activity that should stop only on 1^st December, therefore the struggle continues and let’s join the fight against the HIV epidemic in Uganda.