The Reproductive Health Officer for Impact Health Organization or IHO in Torit, says more than sixty people turned up for Voluntary Testing and Counselling during the commemoration of the World AIDS Day on Wednesday.
Oscar Mark Okidi says the category of people turning up for the exercise was mostly young people.
“Today, as marking the world AIDS day as Impact Health Organization we came up together with other partners and then the ministry to carry out HIV testing services for the general public and then including for the young people and the total of sixty nine people came for testing the majority were young people both school students. So this was a great achievement for the particular day like this is the same like an outreach but in the static places like the hospital we always get a number of around six or seven everyday”.
Mark says HIV/AIDS is just like any other disease that requires proper management through medication.
“We encourage the people in the community to start taking the responsibility into their hands, to know their status. HIV is no longer like before that people used to know, it is just like the normal malaria you come and know your status, you take medication your health become perfect to live healthy like any other person. So I encourage people who are in the community to visit the health facility to know their status. For the young people who are out there, I would like to encourage them they have their private testing place that the youth friendly place located at the main hospital or near the airstrip where the young people can come and know their status without fear”.
The speaker made the remarks in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, during the commemoration of the World AIDS Day.