Health 4 May 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Empowering Women to End HIV/AIDS in Uganda by 2030
Uganda sees about 37,000 new HIV infections yearly, mostly among youth aged 15-24, with women facing higher rates due to systemic barriers. Experts call for empowering women as leaders in community-driven efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/editorial/break-barriers-in-hiv-aids-fight-5446158
Uganda recently marked Candlelight Memorial Day with the theme ‘Ending Aids by 2030: Embracing the role of women,’ highlighting progress and persistent challenges in the HIV/AIDS fight.
Women, especially adolescent girls and young women, suffer the heaviest burden from the epidemic. Despite this, they hold great potential as change agents, driving prevention, community interventions, and mother-to-child transmission prevention.
Dr. Nelson Musoba, Uganda Aids Commission director general, urged shifting focus from viewing women as vulnerable to recognizing them as leaders. National adult HIV prevalence is 4.9%, but women’s rate is 6.4%—nearly double men’s—with youth aged 15-24 accounting for most of the 37,000 annual new infections.
Women encounter extra hurdles like poverty, gender-based violence, early marriage, and widow inheritance, fueling stigma. Men, meanwhile, underutilize treatment.
UNAIDS Country Director Jacqueline Makokha stressed women-led, community-based strategies, noting that nearly two-thirds of new infections among women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa are preventable this way.
Outreach efforts, such as those by Village Journeys Africa’s Maery Mungati targeting marketplaces, deliver services to women during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and beyond.
UAC Board chairperson Dr. Ruth Ssenyonyi emphasized empowering women to challenge harmful norms, calling it a strategic must. Investing in their leadership is key to ending AIDS by 2030 through barrier removal and community responses.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)