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Julian Atim, MD
Human Rights Advocate in Uganda
"I did not get to see my mother as she lay dying, but she had a message for me: 'My daughter, be strong.' I heard her. Now, I use human rights to tell policymakers what has been promised to my people and what little has been delivered, and that we will not stand for this. That is how I pay tribute to my mother."
Julian Atim represents the future of medicine in her native Uganda. While many of her peers are leaving the country, Dr. Atim, 26, has vowed to stay behind to treat people suffering from AIDS and the health consequences of violent conflict. Although she received her medical degree just one year ago, she is already a veteran in the battle against HIV/AIDS. More than a million Ugandans have died of HIV/AIDS, among them both of Dr. Atim’s parents.
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Years of violent civil unrest in Northern Uganda have taken a toll on hospitals, health professionals and patients, particularly in rural areas and conflict zones where clinics routinely run out of drugs and supplies. Despite these challenges, Dr. Atim works tirelessly to treat the vulnerable and sick. For the past five years, she has brought medical students to camps where almost 2 million displaced people struggle to survive. Sexual violence is rampant, HIV/AIDS is commonplace, and lack of sanitation contributes to widespread disease.
“Whenever I go there what strikes me most is the difference between me and my age mates. So many have such potential, but they are crippled by the war, the lack of resources available to them, and the rights violations they face every day. My age mates are mothers, many times over, because they had to drop out of school—while I am now a doctor. If given the opportunity, they'd be in a very different place. That is why I do what I do, because so many do not have what I have, and because they should.”
While in medical school, Dr. Atim founded Students for Equity in Health Care, which advocates for health rights country-wide. She believes that medical students, in particular, have an important role to play in fighting HIV/AIDS. "Human rights are universal,” she says, “and I think AIDS is not the problem but the violation of human rights that has many times led to vulnerable people acquiring the disease (HIV/AIDS). If all pregnant women had access to prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission programs then their unborn children would be protected from getting the infection. If all health workers were aware of the rights of their patients, then they would get the treatment including non-medical ones like confidentiality, privacy and counseling. Medical students should be part of action against HIV/AIDS as they are tomorrow’s health care workers."
Dr. Atim is a member of the Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS (AGHA), which together with PHR has formed a network of over 600 Ugandan health workers dedicated to AIDS advocacy. As a resident of Kampala, she successfully lobbied officials at the city’s Mulago Hospital to supply staff with proven post-exposure treatment options. She believes advocating for these critical safeguards may sharpen the resolve of health professionals to practice medicine in their homeland.
In October 2006, Physicians for Human Rights honored Dr. Atim for her work combining human rights and health advocacy.
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