Flavia Lanyero and Stephen Wandera
26 November 2009
Children yesterday appealed to the government to increase the provision and access to antiretroviral drugs in order to accelerate HIV/aids treatment.
This was an appeal contained in a memorandum to the Parliamentary Forum for Children yesterday in Kampala.
The children among others petitioned Members of Parliament to ban all forms of pornography and prostitution, have HIV positive MPs on the Global Fund Committee, HIV awareness in schools through clubs and emphasis of parental care and love for infected children.
The call was made at an annual Pediatric and Children's HIV Conference, ahead of the World AIDS day on December 1.
Stigma cited
Speaking on behalf of children infected and affected by the disease in Uganda, 16-year-old Josephine Nabukenya said some children especially in villages cannot access ARVs, or medicine to cure other diseases because of poverty. She also explained that stigma was still one of the major challenges affecting HIV positive children.
"We face discrimination at school and in families and when a child faces discrimination they isolate themselves from others and end up feeling miserable the whole day," Ms Nabukenya said.
The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum for Children, Ms Rebbecca Nalwanga who received the petition said her committee is committed to push children's health and rights, to see that by 2015 all children will be born HIV free and those infected get treatment.
"We pledge that we are going to have this memorandum tabled in Parliament as soon as possible," she said.
"Government has done a lot in HIV Prevention although a lot more needs to be done, by 2015 we want mother-to-child transmission of HIV to cease,", she added.
The children also urged the government to ensure that they get basic necessities that will enable them prepare to take charge of the country in future.
There have been reports of high drop out of pupils from the government Universal Primary Education schools, some children being starved almost to death and others being forced to early marriage by their parents.
In some instances, parents especially from Karamoja send their children to streets to beg for the survival the family. Ugandans also face inadequate health care in most hospitals.
The 2008 HIV/Aids Epidemiological Surveillance Report, only 153,718 people receive ARVs out of the 322,819 who need them.
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