AIDS rising again in Uganda

Uganda has long been held out as a beacon in the fight against AIDS. Uniquely among African nations, where the disease is frighteningly common, the prevalence and incidence of the disease has been falling in Uganda. The disease prevalence peaked in 1992 and has been falling ever since. The success in fighting AIDS in Uganda can be traced to several things, including effective government communication, determined work at the grass roots, and the effectiveness of the ABC approach (abstain, be faithful, use condoms).

Now, however, comes the dreadful news that the decline in AIDS in Uganda has stopped and some indications that the epidemic is on the rise again. In the same period, the prevention programmes in Uganda have been de-emphasising the use of condoms, and promoting abstinence-only approaches. This is being driven partly by US aid policy, which itself is being influenced by powerful faith groups in the USA. Of course, American aid is extremely generous and very welcome, and is making a real difference in treating existing cases of HIV, but the way it is being used in the prevention programme is being seen increasingly as counter-effective.

The churches bear a heavy burden of responsibility. People, by the millions, are paying with their lives for the Catholic Church's absurd fixation with sexuality and its obsessive teaching against contraception. Under John Paul II, it painted itself into a corner by adopting an increasingly strident stance against all forms of contraception: to do the right thing now would undermine its authority and that is unthinkable in the current authoritarian climate that John Paul II created and that Benedict is maintaining. AIDS in Uganda is again, tragically, on the increase, because the Church teaches that it is immoral to separate the 'unitive and procreative' functions of intercourse. Instead, it is the teaching of the Catholic Church and other faith groups, in undermining the successful ABC programme, that is deeply immoral.