The Democratic Party (DP) has urged the government to implement mandatory HIV/AIDS testing in secondary schools to safeguard the lives of young people.
According to UNESCO, available data suggests that an estimated 10,210 students and 1,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in secondary schools are living with HIV.
DP’s acting spokesperson, Mr. Ismael Kirya, maintains that while the government strives to eradicate HIV by 2030, there are gaps that need to be addressed to achieve this goal, and one of these is mandatory testing for secondary school students who are now believed to be unknowingly living with the virus.
Kirya explains that many adults prefer relationships with younger girls in secondary schools because they perceive them as easily persuaded and unable to resist advances. He emphasizes that mandatory testing will empower adolescents to know their HIV status and take appropriate precautions to protect themselves.
“We want to urge government to have a sensitization tour in all schools so that our young people in this era can understand what AIDS is. We have a challenge that our young brothers and sisters understand issues of sexual intercourse more than us the elders because of the internet and the things they are exposed to,” Kirya said on Tuesday.
“Secondly, let us have mandatory HIV tests in secondary schools because these young people are infected without knowing and once they are infected, these people who approach them after some time, abandon them and find other young people… now you find that HIV is rotating in that circle,” he added.
Additionally, he reiterated the call for the government to reinforce other HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives to safeguard Ugandans.
