MODULE 2 LESSON 1

Which key populations were you assigned?

Young people

What are some issues that contribute to HIV infections among people from this group?

Uganda has greatly suffered the consequences and impacts of HIV/AIDS for the past decades since 1980s. The country has lost and is continuing to lose the most energetic and productive youths at the time when they begin to contribute to their families and national development. HIV prevalence rates among young people especially girls is higher. In a study carried out, girls are six times more infected than boys of the same group. There is still high increase in HIV affection numbers of youths in Uganda due to the following reasons;


Ø Young people of age 15-19 years are at a disadvantage and vulnerable to inter-generational sex which leads to exploitation and they lack skill of negotiating safer sex.

Ø Young people especially girls are at greater risk of being prone to rape and other form of abuse like forced marriage to grown up men, widow inheritance where by most of these men are already infected.

Ø Youths from rural areas are predominately illiterates; they have little or no idea on safer sex control methods. Also their parents find it difficult to counsel and guide their children. Young people from rural areas usually engage in early sex hence an increase in infection rate especially in rural areas.

Ø Girls and boys engage in use of drugs where by there is use of NON-sterilized materials like injections by many youths hence bringing the spread of HIV with in that community.

Ø Young boys and girls who engage in early relationships which results in early sex practices tend to have more casual partners for sex, hence leading to increase in infection rates, this is the same with gay and lesbian youths.

Ø There is also peer pressure among the adolescents and youths where by they tend to copy risky behaviors such as girl/boy relationship which leads to early sex.

Ø Young people and youth experience a secondary growth spur and development of sexual characteristics. These development coupled with the culture perceptions of being “grown ups” tempts adolescents to experiment with sex which increases their exposure to HIV.

How are these issues connected to human rights?

Young people at risk of HIV infection or already infected may choose not to access health care, prevention and education services for fear of being stigmatized by health care and service providers because they are illiterate about their rights especially youths from rural areas. This is also seen in gay youths because they can’t disclose out their sexuality in order to get proper treatment and prevention measures because being gay is illegal in Uganda.

To young men and women, HIV/AIDS-related stigmatization and discrimination threaten them to attend HIV prevention and care programs. They create a climate that negatively impacts on effective prevention by discouraging individuals from coming forward for testing, and from seeking information on how to protect themselves and others, thus deepening the adverse impact of living with HIV/AIDS and continuous engagement in un-protected sexual intercourse with many partners.

What are some issues that affect access to HIV treatment, care and support among people from this group?

Young men and women have a belief that HIV prevention programs’ and resources available in their communities/areas, are not aligned with the HIV prevention needs they want. In rural communities, health care access is very poor, there is marked variation in access both with in and between districts.

Young people face a lot of discrimination and stigmatization in their communities and from some places where they hope to receive treatment and care. HIV positive youths are normally blamed why they did engage in early sex (adult acts) so this pushes them away from visiting healthy centre for treatment and care.

Criminalization and stigmatization of certain sexual practices like commercial sex work in young girls and boys can contribute to the person’s vulnerability to HIV and their inability to access services and information regarding HIV/AIDS.

Many young people in developing countries luck financial support to access HIV treatment and care because some centers tend to charge for services hence making them un able to access service because they don’t have funds and pay jobs. Reports show that it’s higher in young people in rural areas and un-employed youths in developing countries.

How are these issues connected to human rights?

Ø Several countries have policies that interfere with the accessibility and effectiveness of HIV related measures for prevention and care. Examples include laws criminalizing consensual sex between men.

Ø There is no development of international rights framework which ensures that human rights are interpreted by all relevant international institutions to embrace the needs and concerns of young people and HIV/AIDS.

Ø The allocation of resources to rights education programmes in rural areas is not invested in by governments. Reports show that educating the rural and urban poor on sexual issues often requires expensive and time-consuming face-to-face methods.


Ø Facilitation of access to affordable drugs is not available to young people and youths and there is no equal access to treatments service and care to young individuals in developing countries especially to young people in rural and poor urban settlers.



Ø Establishment of rules for protection and regulation of home based care, and care to young people in schools is not programmed for. This can be a very easy way for young people to access treatment and care services freely.