Young Ugandans Choose AIDS over Pregnancy

KAMPALA, UGANDA--Esther Kasirye Kisekka has been a nurse for 11 years and an HIV/AIDS counselor for the last three years in Kampala. She has seen a lot of shocking things. But speaking in her consulting room in Kampala, she says that what shocks her most now is that young girls in Kampala fear getting pregnant more than they fear contracting the AIDS virus.

"Two university girls, between 19 and 21 years old, sat in my office about six months ago. Both were found to be HIV positive and pregnant. Surprisingly they did not care about the HIV infection and how to manage it. All they cared about was how to get an abortion. This is only one of the many stories we hear," she said. 

"The young men care less too. The difference is they would rather not know their status at all," she added.

David Nfaki is an apprentice mason and sexually active who says he does not want to know his status. "If I don't know then I can plan for the future. What if I test and I am positive. "Life is short and I don't want to live knowing I may die soon," he said as he giggled and looked away.

Esther says when young Ugandans visit the hospital, personnel there counsel them on the need to take the HIV test. "Sometimes we get a few who are HIV positive and we counsel them."

Esther herself is a mother with three children, including an 18-year old boy whose sexual behavior she worries about. The attitude of young people toward contracting HIV/AIDS is raising fears that the country's prevalence rate of 6.5 percent may soon be rising.

Patience Takamushaba, a student of the African Bible University, laughed it off. Pregnancy, she said, is "a no-go area" when you are not married.

But young ladies simply do not care about whether they get HIV or not, she said: "They would rather get HIV than get pregnant and so most of them are using contraceptives and the withdrawal methods to prevent pregnancy instead of condoms."

A young Ugandan who gets pregnant before marriage can face devastating consequences. She may be sent away from home and her life may take a turn for the worse. For many young Ugandan women getting pregnant is more dangerous than HIV. Pregnancy for them means losing school and abandoning future ambitions.

This outrageous and disturbing mindset of young Ugandans is a dent on Uganda's several efforts at reducing the alarming 6.5 percent HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country. HIV/AIDS continue to rake havoc on Uganda orphaning about 1.2 million children.

AIDS has had a devastating impact on Uganda. It has killed approximately 1 million people, and significantly lowered life expectancy. AIDS has reduced the country's labour force, agricultural output and food security, and weakened educational and health services in Uganda in the last two decades. Experts say it kills about 64,000 Ugandans annually.

Esther says education in schools must be intensified. She urged government to ensure that the school to school education is extended to many more school.

Esther says she has already told her 18 year old son to use condoms if he can't abstain. Strategies against HIV that promote condoms, she said,  "prevent pregnancies and HIV to a large extent." She favors abstinence, "but you know teenagers and young adults do a lot of things behind your back and it's better to help them protect themselves."

Uganda's ray of hope in combating the HIV menace lay with people like Mutyaaba Alchilleo, another mason. He has already tested three times in the last three years. He says is not afraid to know his status. "I live a responsible sexual life and knowing my status will empower me to make the right choices," he said. "I will not play games with death."

-Reporter Shirley Asiedu-Addo can be reached at stquac@yahoo.com.