Over 80,000 people participate in the 2022 Kabaka’s birthday run

By Olivia Nabaggala

03^rd July 2022

Over 80,000 people have thronged Buganda’s Palace at Mengo to participate in the annual Kabaka’s birthday run.

Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II the UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Ending AIDS among men in the Eastern and Southern Africa with a special focus on Buganda Kingdom in Uganda used this opportunity to rally Ugandans to embrace HIV testing to be sure of their Cero Status and if found positive to enroll for the anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to treat or to prevent the spread of HIV.

This was contained in his message read for him by the Katikiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga in commemoration of the Kabaka’s 67^th birthday run held today at Mengo Palace.

Subjects, sypathisers and well-wishers donned in the red Airtel kit well branded Kabaka’s birthday run 2022 participated in the 5, Kilometer, 10 Kilometer and 21 Kilometer run around Kampala city in solidarity to the Kabaka’s call to contribute towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.

This year, just like the previous year, the Run has been held under the theme, “Men against AIDS to Save the Girl Child”, with the aim of continuing to create awareness about HIV/AIDS and encourage men to get tested, get treated and eventually protect women against infection.

Katikkiro Mayiga said he was impressed by the big numbers that participated in the run. He said they aimed to sell 80,000 kits and all were sold out, which is a sign of commitment people have shown towards supporting the Kingdom initiatives.

On her side, Winnie Byanyima  the Executive Director of UNAIDS and an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations credited Kabaka Mutebi II for his re-lentless efforts to remind people of the problem of HIV/AIDS and also handed him an award for this initiative.

Uganda’s prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 64 stands at 6.2%,  for females it stands at  7.6% among females and 4.7% among males. This corresponds to approximately 1.2 million people aged 15 to 64 living with HIV in Uganda. HIV prevalence is higher among women living in urban areas standing at (9.8%) than those in rural areas which is (6.7%).