According to this research, about 50,000 people succumbed to HIV/Aids in 1990, but this figure rose to 100,000 in 1995 and then reduced to 48, 250 in 2010.
Figures from our own Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) tell a largely similar trend, with slight variations in figures. The UAC chairman, Prof Vinand Nantulya, has been quoted as saying that the death rate was 38,000 in 1990 but rose to 110,000 between 1995 and 2001, before rising further to 120,000 in 1998.
UAC says 63,000 deaths were reported last year. While these figures appear impressive and hopeful, a death toll of close to 50,000 people per year to HIV/Aids related illnesses is still very much unacceptable given that we know almost everything there is to know about HIV/Aids today, unlike 20 years ago.
Besides, it is worth noting that several countries in this region covered by the same research work registered better figures. These include: Ethiopia, Botswana, Zambia and Rwanda, which recorded the highest reduction in AIDS related deaths of 83.1 per cent. For Uganda, which pioneered the fight against HIV/Aids in the 1990s to fall behind these countries, is regrettable.
Nevertheless, the achievement, mainly explained by the rolling out of ARVs in the 2000s and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, cannot be underestimated. There have been many negative reports about Uganda's Aids fight, with the rate of infection rising slightly to 6.3 per cent in recent years. However, this should not blind us from such milestones as the reduction in mortality.
