The 4,758 HIV sero-discordant couples who participated in a research about Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) hoped that the strategy would reduce new infections if adopted.
However, their wishes withered when the health ministry announced last week that it had rejected the HIV prevention strategy citing high costs and fears that it would increase promiscuity.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a procedure where an HIV-negative adult, especially those in high risk sexual relationships like discordant couples, take HIV medication before being exposed to the virus, for instance prior to sex.
The method, which currently uses Truvada, a US manufactured drug, reduces the risk of catching HIV.
Unlike in the US where Truvada is mainly used by men who are at high risk of getting infected with HIV through sex with fellow men, Ugandan activists wanted the drug to be made available for discordant couples who are in urgent need of prevention strategies.
"After the failure of the vaginal microbicide, we thought Truvada would give HIV-negative partners in discordant relationships another method of preventing HIV other than condom use," says Robert Ssebunya, a senior presidential adviser on Buganda matters, who chaired a community advisory group during the 2011 PrEP research.
