Uganda’s army has launched its very own new brand of condoms, called after the Swahili word for”security”, to help stop soldiers contract HIV.
A soldier can’t defend his nation if he”does not guarantee that he’s safe”, stated Chief of Staff Brig Leopold Kyanda in the initiation of the Ulinzi condom.
Almost 6 percent of Ugandan adults have been living with HIV but strides are made in reducing the number of new infections.
In the past, the nation’s military has been known to have a higher infection rate.
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“The nature of the job has many challenges. [The soldiers] sometimes go to war zones where they meet up with women for pleasure.
“They must safeguard their own lives to prevent infecting their wives back home,” she advised Uganda’s NTV news.
HIV/Aids in Uganda
An estimated 1.3 million people in Uganda are living with HIV
In 2017, 50,000 people became infected with the virus
New infections appeared in 2009 in 110,000
Source:UNAids
Even the UN’s HIV/Aids firm, UNAids, states Ugandans use condoms just over half an hour when they participate in what’s described as”high-risk sex”.
Aids-related deaths in Uganda peaked in 1999 at 74,000 but have dropped since then, the UN states.
The drop in the death rate can be put down to greater prevention efforts in addition to increased access to antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs which help halt the rise of the virus in the body.
Over 70% of individuals living with HIV currently utilize ARVs, which are available at no cost.