A recent joint annual HIV/AIDS review shows that deaths from Aids-related illnesses in Uganda have declined from 100,000 to 63,000 in the last decade. This is partly because of the increased enrolment of HIV-positive people on antiretrovirals (ART).
Between September 2011 and June 2013, enrolment on the life-saving drugs nearly doubled from 329,060 to 566,046. This is nearly three quarters of the patients who need the treatment.
This was achieved due to increased funding to the health sector as well as improvement in procurement and supply of ARVs, web-based ARV ordering and reporting systems, and improvement in warehousing and distribution, which reduced stock-outs and expiry of drugs.
The ministry of Health also accredited lower-level health facilities to provide HIV counselling and testing, PMTCT and ARV services. Uganda also increased the proportion of pregnant women tested for HIV from 65 per cent in 2009 to 90.4 per cent in 2012.
Those found positive were immediately started on ARVs, 96 per cent of HIV-positive pregnant women are receiving ARVs. Donal Cronin, the Irish Ambassador to Uganda, says the number of people surviving death is anticipated to increase further, following the recently- launched Elimination of Mother to Child HIV Transmission (EMTCT) programme.
Consequently, the number of babies born with HIV has reduced from 28,000 in 2011 to 15,000 in 2012. Despite these achievements, HIV prevalence has increased from 6.4 per cent in 2004 to 7.3 per cent in 2011, with about 195,294 new infections annually.
