Nonetheless, Uganda’s success would be overturned by the ‘abstinence till marriage’ campaign funded by the Bush administration and led by Uganda’s first lady, yet the principle mode of transmission is still through sexual intercourse. Certainly, when Mr. Museveni said it is ‘treason’ to die of AIDS, he did not realize that he may have been speaking to youth including females who could have been victims of the condom shortage that hit Uganda between 2004-2005, yet this is a group among which sexual activities are high. More so, the method of abstinence until marriage is even more meaningless to women who are treated as unfaithful when they contract HIV/AIDS. Like many traditional societies in Africa in which it is accepted that men can have multiple partners; for a woman to abstain until marriage might not be the best means of avoiding contracting the disease since she will meet it in the bedroom.

The vulnerability of women has persisted from the 1980s to the present day and this may be explained by gender inequity and persistent poverty, yet poverty takes a woman’s face. Of the 1.3 billion people the World Health Organization defines as the poorest, only 30% are male. Poor women remain caught up in damaging cycles of cultural bias and gender discrimination that further expose them to exploitation and disease. Worse still, cultural practices such as Female genital circumcision in cultural groupings such as the Bagisu and Karimajong in Eastern Uganda have left women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Likewise, Mr. President’s comment that dying of AIDS is ‘treasonable’ reflects lack of attention to the effects of the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed by the Bretton Woods Institutions such as World Bank and International Monetary Fund to cash-starved third World countries. SAPs have not only created situations favorable for deteriorating health conditions by deepening poverty and cutting back health services but also decreased access to curative health services. SAPs have also compromised public health by privatizing basic necessities such as water and electricity. Lack of basic necessities such as clean water can increase the vulnerability of HIV by favoring the spread of diseases related to poor hygiene, thus weakening the immune system of the poor and in particular, women. Women are hardest hit by Structural Adjustment Programs – they have to adjust household budgets when wages are cut and at times forego prenatal health care in order to maintain the necessities of the home. Structural Adjustment Programs have in the long run, not only driven women into deeper poverty but also left them more vulnerable to infection and long-term illnesses.

The socioeconomic status of women hence plays a vital role because poor and unemployed women are at a higher risk of contracting HIV as the need for survival may make them prey to unsafe sexual practices. Unfortunately, these women are at a risk of acquiring and transmitting infections through all phases of Sexually Transmitted Infection epidemics. The development of female condoms as one of the control methods for infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS is a promising step. However, these have not limited the cases of having unprotected sex. Instead, the male condom is used as a substitute. In cases where the man refuses to use a condom, the woman remains the most victim.

Even though I chose to pay attention to women in discussing whether dying of HIV/AIDS should be equated to ‘treason’, I do not pretend to have fully discussed the issue. There are several haunting matters such as rape especially during the 21 year old civil war, human trafficking and exploitation of women laborers as sexual workers that have not been raised in tackling the fate of women in this HIV/AIDS narrative. However, even though space is not enough for a continued discussion, it is important to realize that comments such as the one made by the president are likely to spark stigma and marginalization of HIV/AIDS infected patients who, amidst poverty and growing resentment from their families are battling in hospital floors with barely enough medication.