Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Medical Point of view

Doctors in Uganda are reluctant to weigh in on this debate.

In private, I have heard some say how stupid the law is... And of course, there are those who come in from the point of view of HIV prevention.

They need to, actually. Because, as Ssempa intimates that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is an HIV prevention measure. (I swear, I am not joking! Just listen to that audio. They do not want a new source of infection!!!! And yes, he IS an AWARD WINNING HIV activist.) Strange things do happen in Uganda.


Speaking from the HIV prevention point of view, such a view is completely contradictory to what is known.

Here is an article from the BMJ which a contact sent to me. It is worth reading, commenting about other Anti-Homosexuality laws, and their effects on HIV prevention.

Note, in Uganda, for the first 25 years of the epidemic, we gay men were an Invisible Part of the epidemic. In 2007, we came out and said, no, we exist. In 2008, they prosecuted us for demanding an HIV prevention programme for gay men in Uganda. (Wish all these were not verifiable facts!)

Now, it is 2009, they are accusing us of 're-cruiting' and have come up with a bill to 'wipe homosexuality out of Uganda.'
Sounds like a nightmare, doesnt it? Poor Gay Ugandans!

But, that is the reality of life.

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