Ugandan men have been challenged to take the lead in the campaign to have couples test for HIV/AIDS so as to help reduce the effects of the epidemic in the country.

The Programme officer of the Health Communication partnership Jude Ssenyonjo, says HIV testing among Ugandan married couples enables them to know their HIV/AIDS and Sero status which helps them to take care of themselves, discuss HIV treatment and seek for support among other things.

Senyonjo says Health Communication partnership has only registered 13,000 couples who have tested for HIV since last year in eight districts but says most men don’t want to test for their HIV/AIDS status.

He says the figure is still too low compared to Health Communication partnership target of 40,000 couples per year which is healthy enough to enable a successful campaign against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The campaign to fight HIV/AIDS among married couples in Uganda started in high gears after a recent study by Uganda’s Makerere University found out that although the country’s HIV/AIDS prevention programs primarily focus on younger, unmarried people, new cases of the disease are increasingly occurring among married couples of ages 30 to 40 years.

Health Communication partnership launched the drive to voluntarily test for HIV by couples dubbed ‘Go together Know together’ in September 2009.

By Walakira Nyanzi, Ultimate Media

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