KAMPALA, UGANDA – Diagnosed with HIV in 2003 when the HIV epidemic in Uganda was still raging, William* now lives positively and uses his teaching responsibilities to provide his students with as much education about the virus as possible. He knows first hand how important it is to have accurate information and a proper support system […]

KISORO, UGANDA — Lydia Kidandali smiles as she holds a woman’s baby delivered just a day before at St. Francis Mutolere Hospital. Kidandali, an infant caretaker at the hospital in Kisoro, a small town in southwest Uganda, delivered her own two children at the same place but under unique circumstances. Kidandali is a member of […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA – At the fish market at Ggaba Beach, Thursday morning starts like any other. Long, colorful wooden boats queue to unload their catches of the day at the dock. Men toss stringers of tilapia and Nile perch out of the boats and into the waiting arms of auctioneers. A crowd gathers beneath the nearby […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — For the poor and religious in Uganda, prayer and shaman-made concoctions have been more tempting methods to treat HIV/AIDS than professional health care. Experts in Uganda speak of the benefits and drawbacks of traditional healing. Click on the play button below to hear an audio story about the practices.

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU) has worked to relieve the pain of patients with HIV and other serious illnesses since 1993. Their specialization is palliative care, a form of treatment  extending from diagnosis to death that seeks to enhance a patient’s quality of life. Palliative care addresses psychological, social and spiritual pain and […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Kagoma is just north of Kampala, just beyond the capital city, just outside the urban sprawl and just inside the rural landscape that still dominates this largely agricultural country. It has the small-town feel of many places in the Midwest of the United States. This is where Ritah Naggayi, 22, lives. She […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Dr. Stephen Watiti is a medical doctor and was the first Ugandan medical doctor to become public about his positive HIV status. As an HIV/AIDS activist, he has participated in many seminars in Uganda and internationally  related to HIV stigma and discrimination. Dr Watiti has published two books on HIV and AIDS: […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA – Most nights, William* slept on the floor of Mulago Hospital. It wasn’t ideal, but he couldn’t stay in his house anymore. It reminded him too much of his wife, and he couldn’t afford it anyway after losing his job. This was in 2003. Earlier that year, he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — In Uganda, young women aren’t using condoms as often as they did during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This puts them at risk for pregnancy and contraction of the virus that causes HIV. The perception among many is that HIV can be treated and therefore hidden, but that pregnancy would derail […]

In 1992, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda, Anglican priest Reverend Gideon Byamugisha became the first African religious leader to disclose his HIV-positive status. Since then, he has become a Canon in the Church of Uganda, but continues helping his congregants understand the stigma that too often attaches to those living positively […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Septrin is a drug used in antiretroviral therapy, but is not an antiretroviral drug (ARV). ARVs disrupt the reproduction of the HIV virus, whereas Septrin is a combination antibiotic that fights against infections that those living with HIV are vulnerable to until the levels of the virus in their bodies is made […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — The people who struggle are isolated and unheard: an autistic boy who was tied to a tree every time his parents had to go work in the fields; a man who claimed he was undressed and locked up in a seclusion room with no toilet, bedding or supervision for eight hours at […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — When faced with an epidemic, it can be difficult to get everyone to fight together. There are still gaps that are being filled in the response to the HIV epidemic, including the conversation surrounding the LGBT community about the progress that is being made. Recently, the first annual Key and Priority Populations […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — She looks for them by their eyes. She knows they’re thirsty when they come in after a long haul on the fishing boat. When the fishermen pile into her bar in Ggaba, the small fishing village and marketplace on the south side of Kampala on the coast of Lake Victoria, they start […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Priscilla* was born with HIV, but no one knew until she was eight years old. The late diagnosis contributed to her hearing loss. Now an adult, she is deaf and living with HIV, but still living a normal life because of the antiretroviral medications she takes daily. Her mother died when Priscilla […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — She’s been hospitalized twice. She was cast out of her grandmother’s home. She was forced to stop working. And now she’s trying to heal. Winnie Kabuya has been diagnosed with both HIV and a mood condition called bipolar disorder. Within the short span of her 25 years, the intertwined conditions have wreaked […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — When William* began coughing and losing weight, he knew he was sick. When he tested positive for tuberculosis, a common infection associated with HIV, he grew afraid. “At one point, I thought I was going to die of stress,” he said. If he had waited much longer to be tested at a […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — There has been a shortage of several anti-retroviral drugs and complementary drugs throughout Uganda for the past five months. A drug shortage occurs when all medications stocks have been exhausted, putting HIV patients at risk for from infection. Test and Treat is a universal strategy used to combat the spread of HIV […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — In January 2014, Moses, 15, said goodbye to his mother for the last time as he headed to the markets to buy her some potatoes. According to a 2016 investigation from the Norwegian Refugee Council, he was found less than a week later – minus his head, liver, heart, intestines and genitals. […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — Rachel Nakabugo, 12, is bright and earnest. She wears sparkly skirts and comes home from primary school each day to help with chores. Her father, an engineer who works long hours, often travels for work while her mother tends to the family’s farm on the outskirts of the city. The oldest of […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — He had cryptococcal meningitis, tuberculosis, and was dying of cancer. He feared death. The pain of his illnesses was too much for him to handle alone. That was when he was put on palliative care. Stephen Watiti, a medical doctor at Mildmay Uganda, has been living positively for 18 years. He was […]

KAMPALA, UGANDA — When she was 14, Nakato Martha Clara’s twin brother approached her and said, “Martha, I think I messed up my life.” He told her he had unprotected sex with who she assumes to have been a classmate. Martha said he was nervous and scared. He told her he wanted to test for […]