People Living With HIV/Aids in Kaabong, Kotido Cry for Gov't Help

A group of people living with HIV/Aids in Kaabong and Kotido districts in Karamoja region have appealed to the government and development partners to come up with income-generating projects to support their livelihood.

Some of the affected people living with HIV/Aids told URN at Kotido health Center IV early this week where they had gone to collect their ARVs that they are failing to get projects that can help sustain their lives.

Christine Napeyok, one of the clients said lack of special projects targeting people living with the virus in Karamoja was making it difficult for them to improve their household income. He noted that most of the projects that the government or NGOs have started in the region exclude them.

Richard Ochen, the chairperson of the people living with Aids in Kotido district said lack of special projects targeting them has exposed them to a lot of stigmatization by the public. He says this has also compelled of their members to stop taking ARVs due to lack of money to buy food.


 

“If the NGOs and government could design special projects for us the people who have come openly to live with aids, it would help us also generate some money, which could help us to buy food as we take drugs,” he said.

Betty Nalim, another person living with HIV in Kaabong district, said: “Taking ARVs is not simple and it’s worse when you take them on an empty stomach.” He asked the government to come to their intervention by setting up special projects to support them. 

Margaret Ajilong, the coordinator of people living with HIV/Aids in Kaabong district, said nearly 900 people living with Aids in the district have disappeared and are no longer collecting drugs due to failure to get a balance diet. "The situation is tough and right now it has been worsened by COVID-19 that made most businesses to collapse," she said.





Ajilong, who also doubles as a nursing officer at Kaabong hospital, says they are several people in Karamoja living with the virus but don't want to come out openly for fear of being stigmatized and discriminated. She also asked the government to pass a law against discrimination of people living with aids.