As more people living with HIV gain access to antiretroviral treatment and suppress the virus in their body to undetectable levels, the rate of suppression among children and adolescents remains low in Uganda.

“Only 69 per cent of children under five and 71 per cent of adolescents are being virally suppressed compared with 93 per cent of adults,” said Dr Cordelia Katureebe, who co-ordinates the paediatric and adolescent HIV care programme at Uganda’s Health Ministry.

According to health experts, when the virus reaches undetectable levels, largely as a result of people adhering to treatment, it significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV. A suppressed viral load also ensures that those who are positive live longer.

Improving viral load suppression is part of the ambitious 90-90-90-target set by the joint United Nations programme on HIV/Aids (UNaids) to end the disease.

It aims to ensure that by 2020, 90 per cent of all people living with HIV know their status, 90 per cent of those who get diagnosed receive antiretroviral treatment and 90 per cent of all those on treatment achieve viral suppression.

But in a country where the number of children and adolescents living with the virus remains high, experts are now looking at new ways of addressing the challenges of offering treatment and care to this group of people.

According to the Ministry of Health, children under the age of 15 account for 11 per cent of the 1.4 million people living with HIV/Aids in Uganda.

“Children are dependent on caregivers for their treatment. But, several factors, including lack of transport to come to the facility for doses of their medication, can affect how and when they receive treatment,” noted Dr Katureebe during the 8th National Paediatric and Adolescent HIV conference held in Kampala early this month.

The current ARV preparation used to treat children — a syrup, which has a bitter taste and requires storage in a refrigerator — also presents a challenge in the management of paediatric HIV.