Browsing by Author "Serumaga, Kalundi"

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    Protecting the Next Generation in Uganda
    (Guttmacher Institute., 2008) Darabi, Leila; Bankole, Akinrinola; Serumaga, Kalundi; Neema, Stella; Kibombo, Richard; Ahmed, F. Humera; Banoba, Paul
    As young people grow into adolescence and young adulthood, most will become sexually active and thus be exposed to the dual risks of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), most importantly HIV. Although Uganda’s multi pronged HIV prevention program—consisting of direct programmatic efforts to promote abstinence, monogamy and condom use, as well as a wide range of other strate gies to fight stigma, such as outreach to religious leaders—successfully contributed to a drop in HIV preva lence in the 1990s, that decline may have reached a plateau. Key to Uganda’s continued success in reducing HIV/AIDS, as well as unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion, is a commitment to focusing on young people, who dominate the country’s population. This, however, is no simple task. Those committed to protecting the next generation of Ugandans must recognize the diversity and varying needs of adolescents. For all adolescents, one thing is certain: Any program or policy aimed at protecing the sexual and reproductive health of youth will be more successful if it reaches them at the appropriate time,in some cases before they become sexually active.