Every three of ten youth who test for sexually transmitted diseases at the Gulu Youth Centre tests positive for HIV, Maureen Aciro Anna, a programme officer at the centre and a counsellor has said.
Aciro was speaking recently at the centre in an interview with Acholi Times.
Aciro said more than 200 youth seek various services at the centre every month, majority of whom aged between 14 and 20.
She observed that there is very high cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among the youth, both girls and boys.
She, however, revealed that the boys refuse to come for counselling at the centre when their girlfriends test positive for HIV.
‘‘Many boys after realising that their girlfriends are positive refuse to come for testing. This is very challenging in the fight against STDs prevalence,’’ Aciro said.
Gulu youth centre is run by the Straight Talk Foundation which offers sexual health services for young people including free resting and counselling, sexual and reproductive health education, family planning, distribution of condoms and treatments of minor illnesses.
Mrs. Aciro said besides the high HIV/AIDS infection rates, the centre also registers very high cases of unsafe abortions among young girls especially during school holidays. She blamed this on unprotected sex, peer influence, alcohol and substance abuse and inadequate parental care.
The monitoring and evaluation officer at The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) Gulu, Shafiq Malende said they too have noted that HIV/Aids prevalence rates is higher among school going youth compared to sex workers.
Mr Malende attributed this to the fact that until young school going youth who have sex under the influence of alcohol and drugs, sex workers do so when they are sober as they have to bargain pricing with their clients.
TASO offers HIV/Aids testing in brothers and bars during the night.
TASO Gulu which offers HIV/Aids related services to northern Uganda offers support to over 200,000 HIV positive people in the region, according to Malende.
