Uganda: Activists and health workers say Uganda's anti-homosexuality law, passed in February, will lead to an increase in AIDS-related deaths among an already marginalised population. As well as making lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people afraid to access health services, the draconian law deliberately targets HIV awareness organisations and health professionals working with this community.
A doctor at Mulago Hospital, who asked not to be named, said: "I am not worried about working with the LGBT community but my worry is about my security and that of my family. If the government discovers I am working with LGBT persons, they can arrest me."
The doctor's fears are well-founded. Section 3:7 of the law makes it a crime to fail to report homosexuals, with a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment. This clause has made health workers afraid to provide HIV and AIDS health services to LGBT people. As a result, many are resorting to private hospitals - but these services come with a high cost attached. The ministry of health plans to issue guidelines to health service providers to report all LGBT clients whom they treat.
Afraid to access healthcare
The anti-homosexuality law, together with intense homophobia in the community and the pressure on health workers, means LGBT persons living with HIV are afraid to seek treatment in case they are reported to the police, arrested and jailed. Others fear ridicule from the community and health service providers, and a number of them are afraid of being reported to their parents and relatives. As a result, people have died because they were too scared to go to health centres for treatment.
"Many sexual minorities in Uganda fear to go to healthcare centres in case their identities become known and they risk imprisonment," said David (not his real name), a gay Ugandan living with HIV.
"My colleague, who raised awareness of the plight of sexual minorities in Uganda, died in hospital because he could not access healthcare services in time. This was due to homophobia at the health centres he visited. With the current law I expect the worst: more and more of our colleagues will end up dying because of this. They fear to access services and I don't blame them, because I personally do."
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