Dr. Rachel Beyagira, the Assistant Commissioner of Adolescent and School Health at the Ministry of Health (MOH), has said that the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS infections among adolescents is a big worry for the Ministry.
Beyagira said this during the Wakiso district student leaders’ conference on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, held at Wakisha Secondary Headteachers’ Association in Mukono district, running under the theme “Build to Last: The Next Generation of Ethical Leaders.”
“HIV is within our society, and from the recent data we have, it is the young people who are contributing to the new HIV infection rate and other sexually transmitted infections. As the ministry, this breaks our hearts,” Beyagira said.
She said that education and health go hand in hand and that the moment you don’t have the right education, even your health is affected, and the reverse is true.
Beyagira added that Uganda has the youngest population in Africa, and unfortunately, the young people are involved in so many risky behaviors like alcohol and substance consumption that have led to mental breakdown among the young generation.
She added that she was heartbroken when she visited Bukedea district recently and saw girls between 10 and 13 years of age heavily pregnant.
“We have been in Bukedea; you find a girl of 10 to 12 years old who is heavily pregnant; it is so saddening. This is because they don’t have information or the environment is not conducive, but mostly inadequate information. So, as leaders, when we get a chance, we pass it on to the disadvantaged or vulnerable ones,” Beyagira said.
She called upon the leaders of the young generation to play their role in protecting the half of the population in the country, which is a young population, stressing that about 23 million of Uganda’s population is composed of young people less than 15 years of age.
She said this while addressing student leaders, including the student leaders from the school of the deaf in Wakiso District, under their umbrella, the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA).
