Aids ALERT – UGANDA

About AAU
Aids Alert – Uganda (AAU) is a Not-for-profit and a Non-Governmental Organization fully registered and operating under the laws of the Republic of Uganda. As a stakeholder in the fight against HIV/AIDS, AAU ensures that it cooperates with other stakeholders and through massive sensitization and campaigns to keep the HIV/AIDS prevalence at very low levels in Uganda and the World.

AAU’S MISSION:
Is to promote an HIV/AIDS free Generation by ensuring grass root sensitization, national and international cooperation in order to promote social justice, balanced access to essential health care and development.

AAU’S FOUNDING VALUES:
a) Respect for human dignity, equality, and the advancement of health related values.
b) Equality of and respect for all people irrespective of race or belief;
c) Gender equality;
d) Promotion of the Principle of social justice in seeking balanced health care and development.
e) Friendly and cooperative engagements and relations amongst members and openness to and cooperation with, all organizations and entities working for and adhering to the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

AAU’S OBJECTIVES:
a) To help Uganda/Africa/the world to think about the future and prepare for what might happen due to HIV/AIDS and providing pathways to prevent HIV/AIDS and other diseases;
b) Contribute to the achieving of a greater unity and solidarity in the struggle against HIV/AIDS;
c) To draw attention and provoke conversations on the issues and challenges that Ugandans and the World face in light of HIV/AIDS and other diseases;
f) Promote and defend common Ugandan/African positions on issues related to HIV/AIDS and other diseases and ensure promotion of such positions by the whole world;
g) To carry out research and investigations aimed at understanding the forces that have created HIV/AIDS and other diseases in Uganda and the world, identifying the forces influencing its persistence and imagining what future the people might have to face;
h) To anticipate and influence change. Be major actors to identify pitfalls, provide opportunities to chart new directions and provide long-lasting strategies to avoid the diseases from destroying the human face;
i) Promote integration into the cooperation programmes of international, governmental and non-governmental organizations of the concerns of the African plight of HIV/AIDS;
j) To promote new ways of thinking, to move from traditional approaches to a problem solving order so as to influence radical change;
k) In conjunction with the government, Private sector and the civil society, ensure a society free from HIV/AIDS and other diseases;
l) To help develop a common framework and a focused vision in an entire country in order to handle the complex conditions created by HIV/AIDS and other diseases;
m) Promote interaction, information sharing, peer review and common activities amongst members;
n) Continue participating in and promotion of the objectives of existing partnerships, programmes and initiatives that have been come to by the already existing Organization.

GUIDELINES AT AIDS ALERT – UGANDA CENTRE FOR EFFECTIVE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION PROGRAMMES.
Aids Alert – Uganda carries out various HIV/AIDS prevention programmes that are comprehensive and science-based. Following are the specific elements embedded all AAU’S HIV/AIDS prevention work:
*An effective community planning process
*Epidemiological and behavioral surveillance; compilation of other health and demographic data relevant to HIV risks, incidence, or prevalence
*HIV counseling, testing, and referral, and partner counseling and referral, with strong linkages to medical care, treatment, and prevention services
*Health education and risk reduction activities, including individual-, group, and community-level interventions
*Accessible diagnosis and treatment of other STDs including HIV counseling, testing and referral;

Public information and education programs
*Comprehensive school health programs i.e. education and outreach programmes
*Training and quality assurance
*HIV prevention capacity-building activities
*An HIV prevention technical assistance assessment and plan
*Evaluation of major program activities, interventions, and services

AAU’S LEVELS OF OPERATION:

AAU’s target population includes, Women, Children and the Youth

AAU’S activities are always centered at various levels of society and are designed in such away that they benefit the most vulnerable at the lowest levels/grassroots in a given society.AAU’s programs work on many levels simultaneously namely:

a) Individual levels;
b) Social network;
c) Community levels; and,
d) At the societal structure level.

They address the needs and issues relevant to both people at risk and those already infected in support of a continuation of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, in which:
*Individuals use a full array of existing services and interventions to adopt and maintain risk reduction behaviors
*Individuals are encouraged to determine their HIV/AIDS status through voluntary counseling and testing as early as possible after possible exposure to HIV
*If HIV negative, individuals are encouraged to use the full array of existing services and interventions to adopt and maintain risk reduction behaviors; if HIV positive, individuals use quality prevention services and work to adopt and sustain lifelong protective behaviors to avoid transmitting the virus to others
*If HIV positive, individuals enter the care system as soon as possible to reap the benefits of ongoing care and treatment

Once in the care system, individuals benefit from comprehensive high quality services, including mental health and substance abuse treatment services, treatment for HIV infection, and treatment of opportunistic and other infections like STDs and TB

With their providers and support networks, individuals develop strategies to optimize adherence to their prescribed therapies

PROGRAMMES CONDUCTED BY AIDS ALERT – UGANDA
1. ADVOCACY PROGRAMMES FOR HIV/AIDS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
AAU addresses a wide range of human rights violations, including sexual violence and coercion faced by women and girls, stigmatization of men who have sex with men, abuses against sex workers and injecting drug users, and violations of rights of young persons to information on HIV/AIDS transmission.

We think that Human rights violations only add to the stigmatization of persons at highest risk of infection and thus marginalize and drive underground those who need information, preventive services, and treatment most desperately.

Aids Alert – Uganda has continued to advocate for legal and policy protections for persons affected by or at high risk of HIV/AIDS. Persons living with the disease are subject to stigmatization and discrimination in society, including in the workplace and in access to government services. Some of the people include:

a) Women whose husbands have died of AIDS are regularly rejected by their and their husband's families, and their property is frequently taken from them;

b) Thousands of children who have lost parents to AIDS or whose parents are living with the disease have lost their inheritance rights, have had to take on hazardous labor including prostitution, and have been forced to live on the streets where they are subject to police violence and other abuses.

2. SUB – REGIONAL NETWORK PROJECTS.

AAU co-ordinates an East African Network of representatives of people living with HIV/AIDS. The network focuses on activities to influence policy on HIV/AIDS in existing organs such as AU, EAC, ACP, EEC, and advocating for implementation of the Millennium Development goals.

3. NETWORKING AT REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS.

AAU belongs to several local, regional and international networks working for HIV/AIDS prevention and other related health matters. It has provided training in advocacy, Health and the Law, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS, and national, regional and international campaigns for HIV/AIDS. AAU works closely with UN agencies and regional bodies like UNAIDS, human Rights Watch etc.

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE:

Membership.
Active/Full membership is open to individuals and organizations that share values and goals similar to those of Aids Alert – Uganda.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

AIDS ALERT - UGANDA (AAU)
Plot 88B Kiira Road, Kamwokya.
P.O Box 5408, Kampala Uganda,
East Africa.
256-71-292-024-3; 256-77-297-373-1, 256-75-264-443-9; 256-77-236-499-4
Email: aauganda@yahoo.com