RAKAI, Uganda, Dec 1 (AFP) - It's no coincidence that the man heading the United Nations fight against AIDS chose to travel to Uganda to mark World AIDS Day: a decade of action has halved the rate of HIV transmission in the east African country.

"Rakai District has moved from being famous for having a major AIDS problem to being famous for the way it's handling that problem and in particular its community response," said Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the UN multi-agency progamme formed to tackle the pandemic.

"That doesn't mean we should cry victory, but it also doesn't meant that there aren't modest successes," he said.

Piot was speaking after a ceremony to celebrate World Aids Day in Kasaali sub-county in the central Ugandan District of Rakai, the country's AIDS epicentre a decade ago and the site of the first reported cases.

"It is definitely the case that there are less new infections than five to 10 years ago and that is extremely important as there are not many examples of that in the world, and certainly not in poorer countries," said Piot.

The official attributed Uganda's success to strong political leadership from President Yoweri Museveni, who has been open about the disease since coming to power in 1986.

Museveni "gave a very strong signal and a green light to open discussion about AIDS. There is also a very strong community sector as well as a recognition by government that this should be tackled not as a medical problem but by all sectors in society," Piot told AFP.

The Ugandan health ministry has also attributed its success to high awareness levels, provision of safe blood, improved HIV/Aids care, and research.

Piot stressed that the problems were still far from over, warning "we still have a very, very long way to go."

According to Uganda's 2000 HIV/AIDs surveillance report, 1,438,000 people in Uganda are currently living with HIV/AIDs, while 838,000 people are believed to have died since the epidemic began.

"Many challenges remain both in Uganda and elsewhere. First is the challenge to fight the stigma and the discrimination rampant in all societies including here," said Piot.

"Then there is the enormous challenge of providing care for people with HIV. There are also very many small innovative community projects but they don't reach enough people and it is a challenge to take them to scale."

Piot also spoke of the challenge of caring for AIDS orphans, children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS, of which there are a world record 1.7 million in Uganda.

Weapons in Uganda's war against the scourge include more widespread testing for HIV, expanding projects to reduce mother-to-child transmission and advocating for massive price-cuts in drugs used to treat people living with AIDS.

Currently antiretrovirals cost 800 dollars a month in Uganda, where average annual per capital income is just over 300 dollars.

"HIV/Aids is one of the most difficult and complex issues the world today is facing. It is important to be realistic about what we can achieve. Progress must be made step by step," Piot said.

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