“Until Marriage or Graduation?” Abstinence-Only Strategies and Their Impact on University Students in Uganda

Over the past several years, Uganda has drawn world-wide praise for its apparent success in reducing HIV/AIDS rates from over 10 percent to the prevailing 6 percent. Much of this success has been attributed to the aggressive public education campaign implemented by government, spearheaded by President Yoweri Museveni himself. However, of late, there has been concern that this famous campaign–dubbed the “ABC”
where ‘A’ stands for Abstinence, ‘B’ for Being Faithful and ‘C’ for Condom Use–has changed in such a manner as to emphasize only Abstinence, to the detriment of Ugandans, particularly the youth. Whereas the “Abstain Until Marriage” campaign has been on for some time, not much has been done by way of understanding whether and how it affects the sexual behaviour of young people in Uganda. This article interrogates the effectiveness of abstinenceonly strategies on Makerere University students, with regard to the choice of media, as well as the messages and strategies used.