Leaders and health workers worried over increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Kabarole district Uganda.

LEADERS WORRIED OVER INCREASING HIV/AIDS IN THE YOUTH AND WOMEN AS KABAROLE DISTRICT RAKED 2ND IN HIV/AID PREVALENCE RATE IN THE COUNTRY

BY KAJUMBA GORRET 13th/December/2021

Miss Kasangaki Edita 30yrs and a resident of Muhoti village in Fort Portal central division who has lived 21yrs with HIV/AIDS and married to her husband with 3 children both free from HIV/AIDS because of adherence to medic’s guidance on HIV/AIDs drugs.

Kasangaki who was raped and infected with HIV/AIDs by a soldier at the age of 9yrs in Fort Portal did not know that she was infected with HIV not until she was in senior two when she started getting regular sickness and her mother took her to the hospital.

Kasangaki who fearlessly disclosed to the public that she was HIV/AIDS positive has been on medication and doing well mobilizing people living with HIV/AIDS to disclose to their loved ones and to take their drugs regularly as per medic’s guidance.

Kasangaki was later chosen to be a Kabarole district woman representative for women living with HIV/AIDS and she has championed in counselling and guiding people living positive life to take their medication and fighting discrimination and stigma in their communities.

Kasangaki who we found at Katojo village in Fort Portal central division nursing and supporting one of the HIV/AIDS patients who is in a very bad situation after he refused taking his medication, said that it’s unfortunate that Kabarole is being ranked 2nd in the country in HIV/AIDs prevalence rate.

She added that the failure of HIV/AIDs disclosure by partners has also caused a problem while poor parenting in young people has also increased risks of young people engaging in sex actives because they have been idle during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Kasangaki said that people no longer have consistency in condom use because many partly start sex with a condom and the more they have sex they end up having live sex which has exposed many to HIV/AIDs.

She called upon the government to start counseling and sensitization classes to the youth to share experience with people living with HIV/AIDs, she added.

Mrs. Kabagenyi Teopista the mother of the HIV/AIDs victim said that things started going wrong when my son stopped taking his drug.

He was getting his refills from Katojjo prison but when they started tracing for him after getting lost on refill that’s when I knew that he was no longer taking his drugs, he kept telling me lies that he was transferred to pick his drugs from Fort Portal regional referral hospital which was a lie and when I saw him swollen, I got concerned and we forced him to restart treatment but later he again refused to take drugs which led him bedridden.

Mrs. Kabagenyi Teopista added that she is no longer having any income because she stopped working as she has to attend to his son fulltime and his four children.

I have no money yet the patient needs drinks, daily soap and detergents to wash his clothes on a daily basis, she said. 

The newly released report by Uganda Aids Commission, 2020 has ranked Kabarole district in Western Uganda as the second district with the highest HIV/AIDs prevalence rate standing at 14.6 percent in the country from 10.3 percent.

Kabarole district comes second after Kalangala district at 18.8 percent. Mbarara city now is the third with 13.1 percent.

The national HIV/AIDs prevalence rate is 5.4 percent among adults 15-49 years.

The health authorities have attributed the high prevalence rate to many unprotected sexual practices, drug abuse, stigma and poor parenting.

The Kabarole district HIV/AIDs focal person Ms Catherine Kemigabo said by last week the district had 27,368 people who are living with HIV/AIDs who are in care of which 2,922 are youth between 10-24 years.

In 2018, Kabarole district the HIV/AIDs prevalence rate had reduced from 15 percent to 10.3 percent and the total number of people in care was 24,000 which has now increased to 27,368.

Ms Kemigabo said some of the contributing factors to high prevalence is due to unprotected sex among the people saying that many people don’t prefer using condoms.

There are many factors why our prevalence rate is high, our youth have failed to control themselves when they are playing sex, there is also the influx of many energy drinks on the market which are not regulated, people just drink which increase their sexual desire, said Mrs. Kemigabo.

Ms Kemigabo also said the stigma is high and some people who are on treatment they fear to disclose and take drugs and end up missing which affect their viral lord suppression.

The data for the new HIV/AIDs infection in Kabarole district for the month of July to September 2021 is also high where the district registered 314 people with HIV/AIDs.

Out of 314 new HIV/AIDs infections, 124 are male while 191 are female.

The condom uptake in Kabarole district stands at 61 percent but Ms Kemigabo says they are not sure whether people who take condoms use them properly.

Last year, more than 3,000 people living with HIV/AIDs reportedly lost their care and they were no longer receiving their antiretroviral treatment from different health facilities.

However, Kabarole district has been using different interventions to end HIV/AIDs that included encouraging people to know their status by testing and treating policy.

Majority of the health facilities in Kabarole district offer services of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) as one of the preventive measures to the spread of HIV/AID

They have been also engaging cultural institutions of Tooro Kingdom where in 2019, they partnered to create awareness in the public by encouraging people to test and those tested positive be linked to care.

The government through Uganda AIDs Commission has rolled out national policy guidelines on ending HIV stigma and discrimination also media practitioners have been engaged to sensitize the public at regional level.

The Kabarole district chairperson Mr. Rwabuhinga Richard said that, Fort Portal city being a centre of accommodation for people who travel neighboring countries of DR Congo and Rwanda poses a risk to people who can’t control themselves into sex which expose them to HIV/AIDs.

Other problems include complacence where people get used living with disease taking a long time to show signs, also the issue of COVID-19 that kills in a short time comparing it with HIV/AIDs, lack of a clear-cut program to address young people as far as HIV/AIDS related issues are concerned.

We have started losing the battle that we have won against HIV/AIDs infections at birth because now young people are picking the virus at teenage age.

Failure to attain viral suppression and epidemic control where people who are in care when they suppress and test negative, they don’t mind persisting on drugs which is a danger to them and public at large because they continue spreading the disease.

He called upon all stakeholder, parents and civil society to join hands and fight the spread of the disease.

He also called upon young people to abstain until marriage, said Rwabuhinga.  

The national statistics from Uganda Aids Commission indicates that there are 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDs of which 38,000 are new infections and 22,000 deaths according to the year 2020 report.

The prevalence rate is high in females at 6.8 percent while in male is at 3.9 percent. The total of 490,000 are male where 11,000 are new infections while 820,000 are female where 21,000 are new infections living with HIV/AIDs.

A total of 170,000 are young people living with HIV/AIDs of which 14,000 are new infections while in children there are 98,000 living with HIV/AIDs of which 5,300 are new infections.

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