Movit Products rallies youth in fight against HIV/AIDS
Movit Products, a cosmetics firm, has urged Ugandans especially the youth to be at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Country.
They made the call during the launch of the “iknow HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign”, in partnership with Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU), a nonprofit organization focusing on youth empowerment programs particularly Sexual Reproductive Health Rights of young people between the ages of 12–24 years.
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The campaign is one of the planned engagements aimed at commemorating the International World AIDS Day which happens every December 01, annually.
Speaking at the stakeholder forum on HIV/AIDS awareness, Robert Kitenda, Head Marketing- Movit Products, tasked young people to champion the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in Uganda and beyond.
“The fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS remains everyone’s responsibility. However, the time for all youth to stand against this pandemic is now. We have the mantle to create awareness and empower one another to “Say No” to this pandemic," Kitenda said.
Kitenda alluded to some insightful statistics where he appreciated the milestones achieved thus far, thanks to collaborative effort from ministry of Health, local leaders, NGOs, affiliated partners and organizations that stand together to support this fight.
“According to the World Health Organization, in 2020 alone 680,000million people died from HIV related causes and 1.5million people acquired HIV. Approximately 25.4million living with HIV by the end of 2020 are in the African region. However, there is an evident drastic reduction in the number of new HIV infections between 2010 and 2020 that is a drop from 94,000 in 2010 to 38,000 in 2020. This has majorly been attributed to the improved access and utilisation of HIV services like testing, care and treatment," he said.
Humphrey Nabimanya, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO), RAHU said RAHU has continued to spearhead efforts to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment as well as providing essential health services in this area through its numerous initiatives, partnerships and projects such as the ‘IknowKati’ campaign.
According to Uganda AIDS Commission 2021 report, 37% of new HIV infections were among young people aged 15-24yrs with 79% of the new HIV infections being among young women, 29% of new HIV infections from adolescent girls and young women.
Connie Nankya, Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager, Movit Products, the company’s participation is a move in the right direction to help in ensuring that young people commit to participating in all activities aimed at stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.
