More in Uganda: Minister Comments Carelessly on HIV/AIDS

Via In2EA.

The Health Minister Christine Ondoa’s remarks that HIV/Aids can be cured through prayer have not been received well by both health practitioners and born-again preachers who called it careless and misleading remarks.

Yesterday, Ms Ondoa was quoted by the Observer newspaper to have had a firsthand experience with people she claimed were infected by the HIV/Aids virus but after a series of prayer, tested negative.

She, however, observed that medical workers and the general public should be cautious about people who claim they were healed of HIV, adding that as a scientist she is often careful not to automatically believe a person who comes to her presenting negative results after being prayed for. Such a person’s sero status must be checked and their medical records that show they tested positive must be scrutinised, Ms Ondoa added.

The Head of The Aids Support Organisation (TASO), Mr Richard Ochai, who refused to believe that a minister could say such a thing, said such statements, most especially from born-again churches, are continuously curtailing TASO efforts to fight against HIV/Aids whose prevalence in recent years is said to have increased in the country.

He said science has proved that if one takes ARVs the viral load will become low such that they may not be detected but once they stop taking the drug, the virus will definitely be seen again. “We know God can do miracles if he so wishes but these many possibilities still need scientific prove,” Dr Ochai said.

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