The Uganda Government has declared tomorrow, February 24, a public holiday throughout the country.

In a statement signed by Mrs Catherine Bitakwate, the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), indicated that this is to enable Ugandans to participate in the election of local government leaders.

Mayors, local council heads and councilors are set to be elected tomorrow countrywide.

Last week Uganda had two public holidays just a day apiece; one on February 16 in commemoration of the day the former Archbishop of Uganda Janan Luwum was killed by former President Idi Amin Dada, and another on February 18 when the country held the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

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General David Sejusa has been denied bail by the Military Court today, and sent back to Luzira Maximum Security Prison.

Sejusa, who had asked for bail through his lawyers led by Mr Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi on grounds of advanced age, was denied bail by the court chaired by Maj Gen Levi Karuhanga, who said the renegade General was likely to tamper with the justice process.

In the previous hearing Sejusa had informed court that he could not handle the harsh prison life and that he was the only breadwinner for his family. He also said that he had no criminal record but court did not grant him bail.

And today Maj Gen  Karuhanga denied Gen Sejusa bail on grounds that he would interfere with investigations given the fact that he is a high ranking officer. He also added that he (Sejusa) is required to present an officer at the rank of General of the UPDF to stand as his surety.

He then set March 11 as the date on which Gen. Sejusa’s bail application will be heard.

The state alleges that that Gen Sejusa breached the law as a serving UPDF officer when he attended Democratic Party activities at the party headquarters and other political rallies against the warning of the Chief of Defence Forces. The law bars army officers from participating in politics.

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Vaginal Rings have been proven to reduce HIV infection among women, researchers have established.

According to findings presented at a press briefing at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston by U.S based organisations: the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) and ASPIRE, trials of a vaginal ring that slowly secretes an antiretroviral (dapivirine) drug into the vagina found it reduced infections by about 30%.

The research involved a total of 4500 women aged between 18-45 in Uganda, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, and experts from both organisations noted that the findings were ‘enormous victories’.

“The good news is the trials provide a consistent finding: The ring provided modest protection,” said Mitchell Warren, who heads AVAC, a nonprofit organisation in New York City that advocates for HIV prevention.

The ASPIRE trial found 27% efficacy overall, while the second trial—called The Ring Study—found a 31% efficacy. However, it was revealed that the ring was not so effective for women aged 18 to 21, with only 15% protection in the Ring Study and no protection  at all for ASPIRE’s first trial.

Experts attributed the low protection percentage to younger women not wearing the ring for the entire 28 days between each study visit. They noticed levels of dapivirine—which go down each day that the rings are used—were higher in some used rings than others. Greater protection occurred when there was less dapivirine left.

However, the ring was effective in women over 21 years, with over 56% protection in the ASPIRE trial and 37% in The Ring Study.  No serious safety concerns were recorded in either study.

Each study—held in parallel to speed up regulatory approval—cost an estimated $72 million. In the near future researchers hope to test higher levels of the drug—or more potent antiretrovirals—in vaginal rings. They also plan to make the product more appealing to women by combining anti-HIV drugs with contraceptive hormones, which are already sold worldwide in vaginal rings. It is anticipated that each ring initially will sell for about $5.

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Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced the appointment of the State Minister for Health Sarah Opendi, as the ambassador of “Merck More Than a Mother” campaign in Uganda in recognition for her support and efforts to reduce the stigma of infertility and raise awareness about the condition in the country.

The announcement was made at the launch of its second “Merck More than a Mother” campaign in Africa and for the first time in Uganda as part of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program.

Minister Opendi said the country was happy to partner with reputable and innovative companies like Merck.

“We believe that improving access to regulated and equitable fertility care is important, but it is even more important to intervene to decrease stigmatization and social suffering arising from this condition” she said at the launch.

The campaign was first implemented in Kenya in 2015 and will be implemented this year in Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Africa Fertility Society (AFS) and the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, and progressively rolled-out in more African countries.´

The campaign will provide training for embryologists and education for healthcare providers and will also support governments to define policies to improve access to safe and effective fertility care, address the need for interventions to reduce stigmatization and social suffering of infertile women and raise awareness about male infertility and the necessity for a team approach to family building among couples. Themed “Together we can create a culture shift”, the “Merck More than a Mother” social media campaign will challenge the social and cultural perception of infertile women in Africa. Moreover it will raise awareness about male infertility, prevention of infertility and infertility management at large.

“In some cultures, childless women still suffer discrimination, stigma and ostracism. As such, a central difficulty associated with infertility is that it can transform from an acute, private distress into a harsh public stigma with complex and devastating consequences. An inability to have a child or to become pregnant can result in being greatly isolated, disinherited or assaulted. This may result in divorce or physical and psychological violence. Therefore this campaign is very important for Africa since it aims to define interventions to reduce the stigma and social suffering of infertile women across the continent,” said Rasha Kelej, Chief Social Officer, Merck Healthcare.

Dr. James Olobo-Lalobo, Vice-President of Africa Fertility Society stressed: “Through this historic campaign, ‘Merck More than a Mother’, we will challenge the perception about infertile women, their roles and worth in society, both within and beyond the medical profession in order to achieve any systemic shift in the current culture of gender discrimination in the context of fertility care.”

Through this campaign Merck, a pioneer in reproductive health, will address together with local stakeholders, the key challenges that are associated with resource-constrained settings such as prevention of infertility, education and self-development, regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and in-vitro fertilization (IVF), geographic barriers, reproductive rights and over-population and limited resources arguments.

Dr. Oladapo Adenrele Ashiru, President of Africa Fertility Society explained: “In Nigeria where I practice, infertility is caused by infections in over 85% of women, like in the rest of Africa, compared to 33% worldwide which emphasizes the importance of prevention programs in Africa. Therefore our partnership with Merck is very essential to address this sensitive topic for the first time in the continent”. “We are going to host this important campaign in Nigeria and many other African countries this year,” he added.

Hon Joyce Lay, Member of Parliament and ambassador of the campaign in Kenya, has joined hands with Uganda Ministry of Health and Uganda Women Parliamentary Association to raise awareness about male infertility. “In order to improve access to safe and effective fertility care, a discussion with the relevant authorities will be needed to discuss the strengthening of infertility services, education, auditing, regulation, community awareness and the need to integrate them in programs which already exist in the local health infrastructure,” Ms Lay emphasized.

At the launch event, Merck awarded Berna Amulen, a Ugandan woman, who openly shared her story of stigmatization and suffering for being infertile. The award was in recognition of her courage in creating awareness and sharing her devastating experience so that no other woman would suffer the same.

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