Gideon Byamugisha: Aids does not only strike 'other people'

One time in Uganda a certain professor was called to address a gathering on a famine that had hit the country. He said: "One thing I like about this famine..."

One time in Uganda a certain professor was called to address a gathering on a famine that had hit the country. He said: "One thing I like about this famine..." and the professor's students started muttering: "How can he like a famine?" But he went on to say that it has hit us all equally – Protestants, Catholics and Muslims. The professor was making the point that sometimes a belief difference, or even a party difference, tends to make us not see an enemy with a common eye.

Just a few years ago Aids was a disease of very few nations and very few individuals. But now we are talking about millions of people and soon we shall be talking about billions if nothing is done.

I represent a group that is sometimes very much misunderstood. As people living with HIV/Aids we are seen as people who have deliberately brought the infliction upon ourselves. And I think one of the things to which the all-party group can assign itself in this crusade against the Aids epidemic is to correct this misconception. HIV/Aids does not happen only to "other" people. Once we have such an attitude it is hard to identify ourselves with the HIV/Aids epidemic and be able to construct viable responses to HIV.

If you have an attitude that HIV/Aids happens to those who have deliberately brought the virus on themselves, then you are less likely to support government policies aimed at increasing support. You are going to say why shouldn't we spend public money on people who have avoided the disease.

I have seen that attitude not only among religious leaders. It is among politicians, cultural leaders and it is among parents who sometimes do not give support to their children who turn out to be positive. But we have a global crisis. A crisis of misconceptions, a crisis of attitude and a crisis of responsibility – of not seeing Aids as something that needs effort from us all.

I lock myself away and cry and think, with all this knowledge I now have about HIV/Aids, if I had just had this knowledge a bit earlier I would not be infected. Many people are fed misleading information about HIV/Aids. They are told it is a disease of loose women or of men who frequent prostitutes. They consequently do not class themselves at risk and do not protect against the disease.

At global level we have to grapple with so many issues. Africa is so disadvantaged. Recently the world leaders committed themselves to raising resources to fight HIV/Aids by supporting a global health fund. As people in politics and positions of responsibility we must ensure that this is well managed and that systems are put into place to raise enough money and to spend it wisely.

In Uganda we have proved that the best responses happen at local community level. We are going to win or lose this battle at that level. But how much money goes to communities? Very little. The people who need support most do not get the assistance. We need to think about that and influence the way the global fund will be administered, and the way money and resources will be channelled to those who need it most.

Neither can we close our eyes to global inequalities in trade or debt. We must continue with debt cancellation. We have seen in some countries where relief has been implemented how it has eased problems. We can show that the more debt is cancelled the more is spent on health, on increasing food supplies, on the education of women and boys and girls. Once these issues are tackled Aids will be defeated, because in the long run these are the weaknesses through which the epidemic spreads.

We must not just view HIV/Aids as a problem that has to be dealt with, fixed and then be gone. We should view it as an opportunity to decide what direction we want our world to go. And, like the famine I mentioned, there is one good thing about Aids. It has shown that collective endeavour can achieve so much more than individual effort.