Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) said it registered 38,000 new HIV infections in 2020, which is 28 per cent lower than 53,000 infections recorded in 2019. New HIV infections in the country had stagnated at 53,000 in 2018 and 2019. “In 2019, new HIV infections were 53,000, but the data we have for January-December 2020, shows that the infections are at 38,000. This is a massive reduction [in infections,” Dr Musoba the director UAC said.
One of the contributing factors is restrictions on movement which limited people from moving around in the night due to curfew.
Risk factors and behaviours
Highlights on high risk factors and behaviours associated with HIV acquisition and transmission, the commission states that 36.7 per cent of new infections among adults occur in “people who had sex with someone who was not their marital or cohabiting partner.”
The non-marital partners, they slept with include sex workers who harbour some of the highest prevalence of HIV in the country, according to government statistics.
During Covid-19 lockdown and eventual loss of jobs due to effects of the pandemic on economy, many Ugandan couples were forced to stay together at home and this limited their chances to explore and engage in extra-marital sex.
Although there was a significant reduction, Dr Musoba says 38,000 infections are still very high and that it means more than 104 people get infected daily.
Dr Alfred Driwale, the head of immunisation programme at the Ministry of Health, said among 338 Covid-19 deaths in the country, patients who were already infected with HIV accounted for significant number followed by those with diabetes and hypertension.
Dr Driwale said the vaccine is safe for persons living with HIV and that the benefits of taking the jab outweigh the reported side effects such as blood clots which are very rare compared to millions of doses so far administered globally.
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/hiv-infection-rates-drop-experts-3366820