400 Ugandans infected with HIV Daily

According to the 2011 National HIV Indicator Survey, the prevalence rates among Ugandans between the ages of 15 to 19 are going up. It now stands at 7.3 percent and even higher in women at 8.3 percent up from 6.4 percent in the 2004-2005 survey.

The sad news comes as Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate those who have succumbed to AIDS today at Kasana grounds, Luweero District.

“Today nearly 400 people in Uganda are infected with HIV everyday ,”Director General Of AIDS commission Dr. Apuuli kihumuro told a news conference yesterday at media center.

Dr Kihumuro acknowledges that in the early phases of the HIV/Aids, Uganda scored impressive success when the whole nation got together in solidarity to fight the epidemic. They brought down the overall proportion of people infected with HIV and more importantly the number of new infections per year. However, now the number of new infections is rising from 124,000 in 2009 to 128,000 in 2010 and approximately 145,000 in 2011. He notes that if new infections continue to rise the HIV burden is projected to increase by more than 700,000 over the next five years.