UGANDA: Sex education to be launched in primary schools

A leading anti-HIV/AIDS organisation in Uganda has welcomed plans by President Yoweri Museveni's government to introduce sex education in the country's primary schools.

The New Vision government-owned newspaper reported on Thursday that a guidebook on sex education for primary school teachers would soon to be released by the education ministry in conjunction with the Uganda AIDS commission and other NGOs. The handbook was developed following Museveni's directive that sex education be taught in primary schools, according to the paper.

Don Kaddu, who works for the AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), founded in 1987 to help improve the quality of life of people and communities affected by HIV/AIDS, told PlusNews on Thursday that although many religious groups were opposed to it, the idea of targeting young people through sex education in primary schools would greatly boost the war against HIV/AIDS in the country. "We feel that this is necessary. When you look at statistics, you find the majority of people infected are young," he said.

Uganda has since Museveni came to power in 1986 adopted an open and multi-sectoral approach towards fighting the AIDS scourge. This approach and Museveni's personal involvement in the anti-AIDS war are believed to have reversed HIV infection rates in the country and, as a result, Uganda's performance has been hailed internationally as a success story. Ugandan official figures indicate that the country's HIV/AIDS prevalence rates had fallen to 6.1 percent from over 20 percent in the late 1980s.

However, in June this year, the Ugandan government came under sharp criticism, following the publication of a recent study which threw doubt on the figures, sparking a debate in the country over the credibility of the country's much-touted success. The study, a doctorate thesis by Justin Parkhurst, suggested that Uganda's AIDS figures could have been doctored to impress donors, the independent Monitor newspaper reported on 23 June.

Kaddu, however, said that although statistics might not be accurate, there were certain indicators in the behaviour of the general population, such as the increased demand for condoms and more responsible sexual attitudes, which pointed to positive change. "People are still getting infected, but the rates are going down," he said. "I believe in the data. By the time we started the campaign, the situation was much worse than today," he added.

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