U.S. Mayors Plan City-to-City Partnerships With Uganda to Share Information on Fighting HIV/AIDS

A group of mayors has pledged to partner with Ugandan cities as a way to fight HIV/AIDS there, according to a Voice of America press release. The group is traveling in Africa with a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization comprised of about 1,200 mayors of major U.S. cities (Voice of America release, 9/9). The U.S. Conference of Mayors has sent a 10 mayors to South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Uganda to examine the impact of HIV/AIDS on economic and youth development. The trips serve as a follow-up to initial meetings between U.S. and African mayors, which took place during the 2nd International Conference of Mayors meeting in Denver in June (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/22). Knoxville, Tenn., Mayor Victor Ashe, who is leading the three-mayor delegation to Uganda, said that the best way to combat HIV/AIDS is through collaborative efforts between local leaders and communities, according to New Vision/AllAfrica.com. Burnsville, Minn., Mayor Elizabeth Kautz and Macon, Ga., Mayor C. Jack Ellis are also on the Uganda mission (Angura, New Vision/AllAfrica.com, 9/9). The three mayors have visited AIDS-related project sites in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala and its neighboring city of Jinja to get a "first-hand" look at the impact of HIV/AIDS in local communities, according to the VOA release. In addition, the mayors hope to get a closer look at how community leaders are handling the HIV/AIDS epidemic and determine areas where community leaders need more resources (VOA release, 9/9). Uganda has had success in lowering its HIV prevalence -- HIV prevalence has dropped from 30% of the population to 5% in a little more than 10 years -- by employing the "ABC" HIV prevention model of abstinence, be faithful, use condoms (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/11).

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