A new campaign by the Ugandan youth initiative Young Empowered and Healthy (YEAH) aims to reduce HIV infections among young people by teaching them how alcohol abuse, sex work and gender-based violence can contribute, the Ugandan news site Monitor Online reports (monitor.co.ug, 3/20).
“These are the underlying factors that have been identified as the drivers of the epidemic,” YEAH director Ann Gamurorwa told reporters March 17 at a workshop in Kampala, Uganda, “There is a link between them and HIV/AIDS, and we need to focus on them.”
The one-year campaign, “Be a Man,” encourages young men to abstain from excessive alcohol consumption, to be faithful to and respectful of their partners and to refrain from high-risk sexual activity.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
