NAMARA JUDITH NINSIIMA: HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Digital Age: Young People Are Listening, Are We Communicating?

Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS is rightly regarded as one of Africa’s greatest public health success stories. Over the past four decades, HIV prevalence has fallen significantly, from 18% in the early 1990s to 4.9% in 2024 while access to testing, treatment and prevention services has expanded, saving countless lives.

Uganda still records approximately 104 new HIV infections every day, with young people accounting for a significant share of these infections. The greatest burden continues to fall on adolescent girls and young women.

According to UNAIDS, young women aged 15–24 accounted for 78% of new HIV infections among adolescents in 2024. This disparity is driven not only by biological vulnerability, but also by gender inequality, age-disparate relationships, andeconomic hardships, all of which limit their power to negotiate safer sex.

For years, many have argued that young people no longer pay attention to HIV prevention messages. That argument is flawed. Young people are listening. They are simply not listening to traditional mainstream media platforms where HIV prevention messages are concentrated.

Unlike the older generation, today’s generation consumes information differently They learn, interact and form opinions on social media platforms like TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and podcasts.

They spend hours every day on digital platforms where conversations about relationships, health, identity and sexuality are already taking place. However, unlike traditional mainstream media platforms which rely on strict fact-checking, HIV prevention information on social media is littered with myths, misinformation and dangerous misconceptions, not to mention stigmatization.

The problem, therefore, is not that young people have stopped listening. The problem is that our communication strategies have not evolved as quickly as their media habits and preferences.

It should be recalled that Uganda’s early success against HIV was built on bold communication. The ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful and use Condoms) strategy combined with strong political will led by the President and community mobilisation, transformed public attitudes and reduced infections.

In 2017, the Presidential Fast-Track Initiative to End AIDS by 2030 renewed that commitment by prioritising prevention, treatment and stronger national coordination.

Those approaches were effective because they reached people through the communication channels of their time: radios, community meetings, churches, schools and local leaders.

Today’s equivalent is the digital space. If young people are spending much of their time online, HIV prevention messaging must meet them there.

This is already beginning to happen. Youth-led campaigns run through peer networks and social media are reaching adolescents that clinic-based outreach struggles to find.

A small but growing number of programmes are training young people themselves to produce HIV content for platforms like TikTok and WhatsApp rather than relying solely on institutional messaging.

While these efforts remain the exception, not the norm, they point to what a revolutionary national digital strategy could look like on scale.

Therefore, social media should not merely be viewed as a source of distraction; it should be recognised as one of the most powerful public health communication and outreach tools available.,

Digital platforms can promote HIV testing, provide accurate information about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), encourage treatment adherence, reduce stigma and connect young people to youth-friendly health services. But these tools must be backed by deliberate investment and not left to grow informally.

Furthermore, simply posting health messages online is not enough. Young people are more likely to respond to authentic conversations curated to meet their tastes and limited attention spans rather than institutional announcements.

They trust peers, creators and influencers whose experiences reflect their own realities. This is why youth-led digital campaigns are becoming increasingly important.

When young people become the messengers rather than just the audience, prevention messages become more relatable, credible and effective.

As a country, we must also move beyond measuring success by awareness alone. Most young Ugandans know what HIV is and how it is transmitted.

The challenge today is turning knowledge into behaviour change. Knowing that condoms prevent HIV means little to a young woman who cannot safely raise the subject with an older partner on whom she depends financially.

Knowing where to get tested means little to a young man who fears what a positive result will do to his standing among peers.

That is the gap our communication has not closed: not what young people know, but what they can act on given the relationships, economic pressures and social expectations that shape their daily lives.

Uganda has shown before that effective communication can change the course of an epidemic. To achieve the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, we must once again adapt to changing times. The next breakthrough in HIV prevention will not come simply from louder messages; it will come from smarter communication.

Young people are listening. The question is: are we speaking their language, and meeting them where they already tethered?

 The writer is a member, Uganda AIDS Commission, Office of the President