Kampala — A TOTAL of 350 health centres have been accredited across the country to provide anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

Dr. Alex Ario, an AIDS control officer in the Ministry of Health, said the development would enable more people to access the therapy.

He noted that despite the success of the ministry in adult retroviral therapy, access to HIV/AIDS treatment among children has remained limited.

He was addressing implementers of health programmes in Lira district on Friday. Ario said close to 140,000 children in Uganda are currently living with HIV.

He said 50,000 are eligible for ART, but by June 2008, only 13,000 had enrolled for the service.

He said nearly 25,000 children get infected annually through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Three-quarters of those die before their first birthday because they cannot access ART.

"HIV/AIDS treatment has remained limited, because most treatment sites are based in urban areas," He said.

Dr. Grace Kisitu from Baylor college foundation-Uganda said the ministry had entered a partnership to extend HIV/AIDS services to the countryside. He said the foundation had secured $25m from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to provide technical support for expansion.

This year, 43 health centres have been set up countrywide, 37 of them are based in rural areas.