The State House recently hosted a health camp under its HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) mainstreaming program.
The initiative aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the fight against communicable and non-communicable diseases among staff and the wider public.
The event brought together government officials, medical experts, civil society actors, and faith leaders.
They emphasized prevention, testing, and treatment as Uganda pushes towards its goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Benon Twinobusingye, the Assistant Commissioner and Head of Human Resources at State House, represented the State House Comptroller, Jane Barekye.
He emphasized the importance of investing in the health and well-being of staff as a foundation for national productivity.
“The main objective of this camp is to continuously raise awareness about TB, HIV, AIDS, cancer, and other diseases that threaten our people,” he said.
Twinobusingye noted that the State House had lost a staff member to Hepatitis B a year ago.
This was a painful reminder of the urgency of such initiatives.
He stressed that good health is essential for a motivated and productive workforce. This is not only at the State House but across the nation. Uganda still faces enormous health challenges.
Despite progress in treatment coverage, statistics suggest that the country is likely to fall short of its 2030 target of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health threat.
Dr. Elijah Ssemaganda, Assistant Director of the State House Health Monitoring Unit, emphasized the importance of awareness and preventive action.
“If today we can achieve the goal of public awareness and call upon all of us to go for health checks, then we shall be good to go,” he said.
He also appealed to participants to respond to humanitarian calls such as blood donation.
Tom Etii of the Uganda AIDS Commission gave a sobering account of the current HIV situation.
He applauded the President for his four-decade leadership in the fight against the epidemic.
The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, was also commended for championing the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
According to Etii, 1.5 million Ugandans currently live with HIV, out of a population of 45 million.
Of these, 1.3 million are on treatment, costing the government up to 1.4 trillion shillings annually.
Yet challenges remain, with 37,000 new infections recorded last year alone.
“That means every hour, five Ugandans get infected, and every day, 100 new cases are registered,” he said.
In the same year, about 20,000 people died due to AIDS-related illnesses.
That translates into 57 deaths every week.
Etii attributed the persistence of new infections to multiple sexual partnerships, transactional sex, low condom use, and complacency among men who shun testing and treatment.
He urged Ugandans to practice faithfulness, responsibility, and integrity to curb the spread.
“We must engage men to protect young women and girls,” he added. “The high rate of teenage pregnancies is tied to the same transmission routes of HIV.”
Men must take responsibility. Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha, Africa’s first priest to publicly declare his HIV-positive status, shared his moving testimony.
Married for 30 years to his wife, Pamela—also living with HIV—Byamugisha highlighted the stigma he has faced across the world.
“In Indonesia, we were thrown out of a hotel after people discovered we were HIV-positive,” he recalled. “The manager even burned the mattresses and blankets we had used,” he said. “At such times, only the love of God kept me strong,” he added.
Despite discrimination, Canon Byamugisha has continued to advocate for openness, testing, and treatment adherence.
He challenged men in particular to overcome fears around disclosure and testing.
“Science is enough to end AIDS,” he noted. “We have the medicines, we have leadership, and we have the means.”
What is preventing progress is stigma and complacency.
Dr. Flavia Matovu Kiweewa, Director of Research at the Makerere University–Johns Hopkins University (MUJHU) Research Collaboration, shared new scientific interventions for HIV prevention.
She highlighted the availability of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)—a daily pill that significantly reduces the risk of infection if taken consistently.
However, adherence remains a challenge, particularly for mobile populations such as young women working in mining areas, bars, or fishing communities.
“There is still a lot of stigma associated with PrEP because it looks similar to HIV treatment drugs,” she said.
This prevents many at-risk individuals from using it.
Dr. Kiweewa pointed to long-acting prevention options, such as the dapivirine vaginal ring, which releases protective drugs over a month, as promising alternatives.
She also emphasized prioritizing pregnant women in treatment programs to reduce mother-to-child transmission.
The event was attended by officials from the Ministry.
