Anne Mugisa
21 August 2008
Kampala — SCIENTISTS are designing a new way of protecting women from getting infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the Uganda Aids Commission chief said yesterday.
Dr. Kihumuro Apuuli said studies were ongoing to combine anti-retroviral drugs with pessaries for vaginal insertion to kill HIV before it gets into body cells.
A pessary is a device placed in the vagina either as support for the uterus or as a contraceptive.
This follows the unpopularity of the female condom. Many females said it was difficult to use, noisy and not convenient.
The director general, who was addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala, said scientists unveiled the study at the recent Global HIV conference in Mexico.
Apuuli was flanked by Dr. Jesse Kagimba, the senior presidential adviser on HIV and Dr. Stephen Watiti of Mildmay Centre.
He, however, added that participants noted that there was no hope yet for a breakthrough in finding a cure for the deadly disease and that new infections were outpacing treatment.
For every one person taking ARV drugs, Apuuli said, two more were getting infected.
"The infections in Uganda, Senegal and Kenya, which were reported as falling, are now gradually rising. It is the same in the USA," he said.
"This means we are unable to sustain treatment and must, therefore, scale up prevention measures."
Apuuli noted that there were people able to resist infection for many years despite repeated exposure to the virus. He said such people held the hope for a cure.
The ministries of health and justice were working on the proposed law to punish those who intentionally infect others with HIV, stated the director general, adding that such people were few.
Apuuli condemned the recent act of a husband in Rukungiri district, who stabbed his wife to death, accusing her of infecting him with HIV.
He called for more counselling, saying a positive result for one person did not mean that their spouse was also infected.
Watiti, who said he was living with HIV, noted that there was laxity on preventive behaviour, especially among the older people most likely to be in the marriage bracket.
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