The battle over prevention tactics appears to be coming to a head just days after questions have been asked about the financial management of Uganda’s flagship Aids programmes.
Last week the Global Fund for Aids, TB and Malaria pulled all its funding from Uganda’s programmes.
But in the last couple of years, the Ugandan and US governments have shown increasing interest in promoting abstinence and fidelity in marriage, with condoms given out only to those who cannot manage either.
New billboards have appeared in Uganda, signed by the office of the first lady and bearing the logo of USAid – the US development agency. One has a picture of a glamourous, smiling young woman, saying “She’s saving herself for marriage – how about you?”
Activists argue that while abstinence until marriage and fidelity inside marriage are admirable concepts, human weakness, prostitution, the subservience of women in African society and the difficulty of changing behaviour dictate that condom use must be at least as well promoted, and condoms must be easily available.
“The crisis in Uganda has been created by the actions – and inaction – of the government of Uganda and the Bush administration, the primary donor for HIV/AIDS programmes in Uganda, and a major force in undermining effective HIV prevention programmes throughout sub-Saharan Africa and central America,” said Jodi Jacobson, executive director of Change.