TEN percent of new HIV infections in Uganda have been linked to sex workers, according to the newly released 2010 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic.

The report says paid sex remains an important factor in the HIV epidemic trend in Uganda, with infections occurring among sex workers, their clients, or their other sex partners.

It also lists Uganda among 14 African countries with condom use rates of 20% or less for people with more than one partner. The other countries are DR Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The report shows that there are more women going for antenatal care in Uganda. Also, the number of Ugandan girls and boys who have had sex by the age of 15 is declining.

Also, more women have reported having had sex with more than one partner in the past year, while there is no evidence of change in the number of men with more than one sexual partner.

It adds that the number of men and women with multiple sexual partners without using condoms is declining significantly.

Trend analysis shows a general decline in the percentage of people who had more than one partner in the past year.

However, Ugandan men above 25 years are increasingly reporting multiple partners, while the number of women with more than one sexual partner has remained stable.

The report also shows that Uganda has rolled out the adult male circumcision programme, with 5,340 men circumcised between October 2008 and March 2010.

Under treatment coverage for adults and children in line with the World Health Organisation guidelines, Uganda's antiretroviral coverage for children is at 18%, while 43% of Ugandan adults have access to antiretroviral treatment.

According to the report, 1.2 million Ugandans live with HIV, while only 200,000 people are receiving antiretroviral therapy. The report also shows that around 76% of Ugandans on antiretroviral treatment continue receiving treatment one year after initiation.

The report points out that Uganda's inadequate political will and insufficient resources are challenges to increasing access to high-quality HIV/AIDS care and support services.

The scorecard for Uganda shows that the rate of HIV infection between 2001 and 2009 has remained stable at between 6.5% and 7.0%. Infection rates for Kenya have stagnated, while Rwanda and Tanzania's prevalence rates have decreased.

Global trend

The report shows that the world is beginning to reverse the spread of the virus.

"New HIV infections have fallen by nearly 20% in the last 10 years. AIDS-related deaths are down by nearly 20% in the last five years," reads the report.

The report contains data on HIV from 182 countries. It also gives new evidence that investments in HIV prevention programming are producing significant results in most of the highest burdened countries.

However, even though the number of new HIV infections is decreasing, there are two new HIV infections for every one person starting HIV treatment, which shows that HIV prevention programmes have been inadequate.

The report also points out that despite the decline in HIV adult prevalence worldwide, and increasing access to treatment, the total number of children aged 0-17 years, who have lost their parents due to HIV, has not declined.

The number of HIV orphans has increased from 14.6 million in 2005 to 16.6 million in 2009.

Almost 90% of the orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 9 million orphans live in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Of these, 2.5 million orphans are in Nigeria alone.