Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

I had a dream and in the dream..... It was easier to fight HIV in Uganda and be done with it. With 1,000 persons infected and 500 of these dying every week in Uganda, according to UNAIDS 2019 report, we all must put aside any excuse not to engage in the fight against HIV. Organizations led by KP which have always received Human Rights Activism funds were provided funds as well as those that strategically promoted HIV/Public Health Activism. It was a very edifying dream...... Sadly, there are those who sold phone, bed and family assets to keep upholding HIV Programming and realistically led to a genuine Treatment Cascade for KPs. These organizations were not provided PEPFAR funding!  A Treatment Cascade is where mobilization for testing is done; those who test positive are provided ARVs; and those on ARVs are supported to adhere and go for Viral testing to verify viral load suppression. This was in Malaba, Busia, Hoima, Mbarara, Kampala, Nairobi, Jjinja, Lugazi, ...

Those of us who are working at the Grassroots are faced with the aesthetic and self esteem needs of People   Living With HIV are fascinated by these Lawyer-Medical Field battles. In USA, lawyers have mobilized themselves into a litigation collective to solicit for funds from Big Pharma. They have their arguments, which we shall not go into. Whereas, we also feel it is right to provide support from the excruciating pain of medication we do not necessarily condone litigation. Why not mediation? Why not the all inclusive dialogue approach? The chairs of the HIV Medicine Association and the American Academy of HIV Medicine urge health care advice from clinicians, not lawyers, according to  W. David Hardy and Margaret L. Hoffman-Terry. What’s the deal? Recently, a multimedia advertising campaign promoting lawsuits for safety issues related to  Truvada (TDF/FTC)  has been launched. These advertisements are looking for people living w...

Imagine my consternation when a group of LGBTIQQ youths organized a talk-show event and invited me to be the guest speaker! Surprise, surprise. I thought I was prepared until I was asked later to talk about Cancer and HIV. I held my ground and took them through the information I knew from experience would be helpful to them. I have looked around for articles that talk about Cancer and HIV in the same breathe too. The one provided by POZ Newsletter is very appropriate and I recommend all readers to access that newsletter. It is a treasure trove. Liz Highleyman is a writer with POX Newsletter. In this article she   writes about Sean McKenna a long-term survivor living with HIV and other related experiences. “Sean McKenna has faced numerous battles, including two episodes of skin cancer and several bouts of anal pre-cancer. Jill Cadman, another long-timer, is living with HIV and Stage IV colon cancer. And they are not alone. “Almost every long-term survivor I know is d...