Test for HIV Today!

The World AIDS Day 2018 theme encourages everyone to know their HIV status. As part of the buildup activities, partners in South Sudan, under the ‘Right to Health’ campaign, have launched the ‘Test for HIV Today’ initiative which aims to reduce the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in the country, which remain at about 12,000 per year for the last four years.

The 100-day campaign is spearheaded by the HIV and AIDS secretariats in the ministries of defense and interior, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the South Sudan AIDS Commission and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS. They are offering free HIV testing, counselling, treatment and care, targeting members of the organized forces, their families and host community.

The 100-day ‘Right to Health’ initiative aims to reach members of the uniformed services including the military, police, prisons, fire brigade and wild life, who rank among the population groups most affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

Recent research shows that members organized forces are two times more likely to contract STIs than the civilian population with 5 per cent HIV prevalence compared to 2.5 of South Sudan’s general population or about 180,000 people. During the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, this factor is likely to increase significantly.