As Rwanda joins the world to mark World AIDS Day, the youth have said they need to pay close attention to campaigns about prevention against HIV from both the government and private institutions. The occasion will be held on Thursday, December 1 in Huye district and will be presided over by Prof. Claude Mambo Muvunyi, the Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Center. HIV/AIDS remains a major public health threat globally since its discovery in 1980’. By the end of 2021, about 38.4 million people were living with HIV and about 2/3 of them were in Africa (WHO, 2022). According to UNAIDS estimates, 227,356 people were living with HIV in Rwanda by the end of December 2021. The theme for this year's World AIDS Day 2022 is 'Equalize'. Below are excerpts; Teta Bonita (20 years) Our government has put in place various programmes sensitizing us about HIV/AIDS and I strongly believe that the biggest part has to be played by us, the youth, by adopting measures that will help us abstain and live an HIV/AIDS free life. Sheilah Kayitesi (22 years) The youth needs to know their status and avoid unprotected sex, bad groups and make sure they know their HIV status. They should also prioritise seeking guidance and counseling to have more awareness. Medication is important and should be respected immediately when one finds out that they have contracted HIV/AIDS. Christian Danny Songa (21 years) As youth, we ought to value our health and ensure safety because once infected with HIV/AIDS, there is no going back and no one is going to do that for us. We have to do it for our own good. Suzan Abatesi (24 years) “Awareness on how to prevent ourselves from HIV/AIDS has always been there but we keep having high percentages of the youth living with it. Therefore i believe that the youth has to first understand the consequences that come with failure to take caution on sexual intercourse because it triggers the infection of HIV/AIDS”. Samuel Muhumuza (24 years) The only way that we, the youth, can stay safe against HIV/AIDS is through abstinence and use contraceptives like condoms during sexual intercourse. Titus Manzi (24 years) Today’s young generation takes HIV/AIDS for granted where we find that there’s more pregnancy prevention than AIDS and this is very sad. Most of the youth have turned a deaf ear to this matter and I personally think that more and more sensitization is needed especially in the remote areas of our country.
