Kakaire A. Kirunda
9 July 2007
Mbale — A STUDY done in several conflict-affected countries including Uganda has concluded that evidence to show that HIV transmission increases among war-weary people is insufficient.
Published in the June 30 edition of the Lancet Medical Journal, the study also says there is insufficient data to conclude that refugees fleeing conflict have a higher prevalence of HIV infection than their host communities.
"In many circumstances, comparisons of HIV prevalence in both situations show the opposite result," says the study done in Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Burundi.
Urban Prevalence
The researchers say data from the countries did not show an increase in HIV infection rates during periods of conflict, irrespective of prevalence when conflict began.
"Prevalence in urban areas affected by conflict decreased in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda at similar rates to urban areas unaffected by conflict in their respective countries. Prevalence in conflict-affected rural areas remained low and fairly stable in these countries," says the study.
Of the 12 sets of refugee camps surveyed, the researchers wrote, nine had a lower HIV infection rates, two a similar prevalence, and one a higher prevalence than their respective host communities.
And that despite the many rape cases in many countries, there was no data to show that rape increased HIV infection rates. The researchers also noted that prevalence of HIV infection rates in northern Uganda, as in the rest of the country, fell during the 1990s and early 2000s although there is concern that prevalence in some parts of the country might be rising again.
It shows that HIV prevalence in Gulu, for instance fell from 27 per cent in 1993 to 12.8 per cent in 1998, and 11.3 per cent in 2003. And that although the intensity of the conflict increased from 1996 onwards, trends from 1998 to 2003 showed a decrease in infection in Gulu compared to peaceful western and eastern Uganda, represented by the study sites of Mbarara and Mbale regional hospitals.
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