By JONATHAN KAMOGA

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Uganda has in the past three years registered a decline in HIV prevalence within the country’s population signalling positive strides towards controlling the epidemic, a new survey has confirmed.

Preliminary results of the 2020 Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA) released last Friday by the country’s Health ministry indicates that the current prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 49 years in the country is now 5.5 per cent, representing a slight decline from 6 percent in UPHIA 2016-17.

UPHIA 2020 is a nationwide survey that was conducted to provide estimates of HIV incidence, its prevalence, viral load suppression, and other important HIV/Aids programme indicators, according to the ministry.

The survey was conducted by the Health ministry in partnership with Columbia University and the US Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Data was collected from all regions of Uganda from a sample of households that are representative of its population.

The number of new infections has also declined, according to Dr Nelson Musoba, director general of Uganda AIDS Commission.

“In 2019, new HIV infections were 53,000, but the data we have for January-December 2020, shows that these infections are at 38,000. This is a massive reduction [in infections],” Dr Musoba said.

“We are analysing the cause of the reduction, but one of the contributing factors we are thinking about is restrictions on movement which limited people from moving around at night due to curfew.”

Among both men and women, HIV prevalence was recorded lowest in the 15 to 19 years age group. Among men, it was highest in the 45 to 49 year age group, while among women it was highest in the 50 to 54 year age group at 13.6 percent.

“HIV prevalence appears to have fallen among all age groups in UPHIA 2020 compared to UPHIA 2016/17, except among older individuals aged 50-54 and 60-64. This finding is consistent with other epidemiological data on the shifting of HIV burden to older age groups,” the survey report says.

The survey also found out that people living with HIV with suppressed viral loads are living longer, have fewer complications due to HIV, and are less likely to transmit the virus to others.

Viral load suppression is a marker of effective treatment.

The Health ministry further says that with the current findings, Uganda’s HIV programme has now exceeded the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) target and national goal of having population level viral load suppression of at least 73 per cent which has improved the health and wellbeing of its citizens living with HIV.

“The preliminary results of UPHIA 2020 demonstrate that Uganda is positioned to achieve the UNAids goals to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. Over three-quarters of people living with HIV had suppressed viral load, meaning that treatment programmes are successfully reaching the majority of the population living with HIV,” the ministry said.

Relatedly, while the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has enabled thousands of Ugandan children infected with HIV to survive into adulthood, there has been hesitation to transition to adult HIV clinics.

According to a separate research conducted by the Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences, unfriendly attendants in adult ART clinics, congestion and fear of stigma are key barriers to adolescents’ transitioning.