By Ben Musanje
HIV/AIDs fight awareness groups have challenged health experts in the Ministry of Health and Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) for failure to update the President about interventions on controlling the epidemic in the country.
Dr. Chris Brown working with the Infectious Diseases Program says that they were pleased with President Yoweri Museveni’s ambitions in the fight against HIV but betrayed by experts’ responses which might affect the new initiative.
This comes after President Museveni launched a new initiative to end HIV by the year 2030.
Brown says they need Ministry of Health and Uganda Aids Commission to focus more on promoting programs like preventive vaccines, Prep, Test and Treat among others because as concerned groups they are ready to increase on the AIDS Trust Fund and other HIV initiatives.
Although Uganda had been identified as a great performer in the fight against HIV/AIDS the current prevalence of 7% is worrying the country.
The number of Ugandans dying from HIV/AIDS-related illness had reduced by 50.7% in one year 2015, according to the Ministry of Health.
The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, said 31000 people with HIV died in 2014, down from 63,000 in 2013, a reduction of 32,000 deaths. AIDS-related deaths were 67,000 in 2010 and over 75,000 in the late 1980s and early 1990s which success was attributed to the increased number of HIV patients accessing anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and treatment.
The number of people enrolled on antiretroviral therapy (ART) increased from about 330,000 in 2011 to about 750,896 in 2014.
In Uganda, the policy is that HIV – positive people are enrolled on ARVs when their immune system declines to 500 CD4 cell amount or below.
However, the Government rolled out option B programme in 2013 aimed at eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission. According to the programme, all pregnant women who test HIV positive are put on treatment straight away, irrespective of their immune system as measured by the CD4 cell count.
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