Nairobi — AS THE world marked the World Aids Day on December 1, worrying statistics were emerging from war-torn northern Uganda.

The figures show that, in spite of the national decrease in HIV/Aids prevalence, infection rates are on the rise in conflict-affected areas, most notably in Gulu, the largest and most densely populated of the war-ravaged northern districts.

A national survey carried out on prevalence rates by World Vision from 20 sites throughout Uganda showed rates of HIV infection ranging from 0.7 per cent at Matany hospital in Kotido district in northeastern Uganda to a maximum of 11.9 per cent at Lacor hospital in Gulu.

"Prevalence rates in these areas were almost double the national average. If the conflict continues to spread farther south and east and a culture of war and displacement begins to take root, HIV/Aids prevalence rates are likely to rise elsewhere and Uganda will lose many of the gains that the country has worked hard to achieve," says the World Vision report.

The report, released in Kampala last month, points out that the north has a prevalence rate of 11.9 per cent, which is twice the national rate of 5 per cent.

This comes a month after Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development Zoe Bakoko Bakoru said that 50 per cent of LRA returnees were HIV-positive. She said most of the girls abducted were shared out as wives, putting them at risk of HIV/Aids infection.

However, officials from Unicef have disputed this figure, saying that the minister's statement was not based on any known research. They said that most of the returnees they spoke to said that there was strict regulation among the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels concerning sexual behaviour.

Unicef public relations officer Ann Lydia Sekandi said that fear of HIV/Aids among the LRA commanders meant that many girls were released rather than being reassigned as a wife to another commander. However, she said that the risk is greater in the community which they live in when they return.

The World Vision national director Robby Muhumuza said that with as much as 80 per cent of the population in the war-affected areas displaced, HIV/Aids rates are soaring. He attributed this to displacement the prevalence of rape in war and poverty.

"Poverty as a result of displacement has forced many women to engage in unprotected 'survival sex,' exchanging sex for food, soap or money," said Mr Muhumuza. He added that many young girls who "night-commute" to the town for safety are raped. While introducing the report, Mr Muhumuza said that rates were often higher in urban and peri-urban areas, which accounts for the higher prevalence rates in Mbarara in western Uganda. However, the highest rates were the ones at Lacor Hospital.

The World Vision report also attributes the rising rate to poverty and lack of parental control, which forces other young female "night commuters" to exchange sex for food and school fees.

The use of sexual bondage as a weapon of choice by the LRA has further increased area prevalence rates. The report pointed that if these girls make it back from the bush, they are sometimes rejected and abandoned by their families for a variety of reasons. "As a result, some resort to sex for survival, engaging in high-risk behaviour that increases the spread of the disease," said a World Vision official.

Mr Muhumuza said that the people in the war-torn areas are not able to receive adequate treatment unless they have the financial means to do so and all of these factors increase HIV prevalence.

However, an earlier survey by World Vision showed that the national prevalence rate was 6.2 per cent compared with 6.5 per cent in 2001, indicating a national decrease in HIV prevalence.

The report recommended that appropriate HIV/Aids control activities should be added to all interventions by the government, NGOs and UN agencies, tailored for the different aspects of the conflict, for example emergency response to internally displaced people (IDPs), abducted children, night commuters and post-conflict reconstruction.