Barbara Among
8 June 2008
Kampala — THE rate at which HIV/AIDS is spread among sex workers has increased from 24% to 48% over the last five years, according to the head of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro Apuuli.
The rapid increase in cases of new HIV infections is because the trade is illegal and there is low self-protective behaviour among prostitutes, he added.
Speaking at the HIV/AIDS implementers meeting in Kampala, Apuuli noted that sex was still the leading channel through which HIV/AIDS is spread, accounting for 76% of new infections. Casual sex or premarital sex, mainly among the young people, contributes to 14% of new infections, he added. Apuuli said the second leading cause of new HIV infections was the mother-to-child-transmission.
Uganda's HIV prevalence rate stands at 6.4% among adults and 0.7% among children, about one million people nationwide.
The rate at which HIV/AIDS is spread among couples is 42% unlike five years ago when the new infection rates were highest among the youth.
Other groups with high a prevalence rate include the fishing community, internally displaced persons and long-distance truck drivers, Apuuli added.
The annual incidence reached 132,500 new cases in 2005 and it continues to grow. This includes 25,000 mother-to-child transmissions.
In a bid to curb the upward changing trends, Apuuli said the Government had developed the National Strategic Plan 2008 to 2011 that aims at refocusing approaches to the fight the pandemic.
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