Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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allAfrica.com (12.20.03) - Tuesday, December 23, 2003
New Vision
The study results were recently presented to the Rakai district leadership, said Dr. Robert Mayanja, director of medical services in Rakai. They were also presented at a regional workshop held in Masaka in early December.
Joseph Ssembatya, health educator for the Rakai district, said 80 percent of HIV-positive people continue having sex and appear healthy, but just half of them use condoms with either their usual partner or outside partners. Researchers said 80 percent of respondents believe that they are at risk of getting HIV/AIDS. "Many are not confident that they can escape the disease because they do not trust themselves or continue to live a reckless sexual life," said Ssembatya.
According to the findings, men are more knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS than women. But when it comes to notifying a partner of STD infection, almost no one surveyed did so. "Once a partner discovers that they have an STD, they just rush to a doctor for treatment and do not inform the other for fear of being blamed for the infection. This brings another gap in prevention," Ssembatya said.
Only 23 percent of pregnant women deliver in health centers and many do not seek antenatal services, thus "there is a high risk of transmitting the virus to their newborn babies because they do not deliver in health facilities where such can be prevented," noted Ssembatya, adding that the AIDS infection rate still stands at 12-15 percent.
As a result of the study, district leaders have embarked on an HIV/AIDS prevention campaign.
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