Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - October 11, 2008
Charles Ariko
Dr. Kihumuro Apuuli, the Uganda AIDS Commission Director General, said the majority of these men were married.
He added that even the unmarried ones, not wanting to be left behind, had jumped onto the bandwagon.
"Everybody is doing it (sex) wrongly. Men have many more marital partners today than four years ago. Most of them have unprotected sex. This negative behaviour is responsible for the increase of new HIV/AIDS infections," Kihumuro said at the Media Centre on Friday.
He explained that those who tested positive contracted the virus in last six to 12 months.
"People must change their behaviour. For many years we appeared to be on top of the epidemic but things have changed," Kihumuro lamented.
He said the centre of gravity for the new infections was within the age group of 30-35 years for women and 40-45 years for men.
This, Kihumuro explained, was at variance with what the situation was in the past, when the epidemic was rampant within the age group of 30 years and below.
He said as of June 2008, there were 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda, with 330,000 in need of anti-retrovirals (ARVs).
Kihumuro said the Joint AIDS Annual Review Forum would discuss these challenges at Monday's meeting. He said children were not faring any better, with 144,100 estimated to be infected.
Of these, Kihumuro said, 49,000 needed ARVs but only 12,500 were on the life-supporting drugs.
"Apart from sex as the main cause of new HIV/AIDS infections, the next mode of transmission is from mother to child," Kihumuro noted.
He regretted that in Uganda, the number of unborn children being infected by HIV/AIDS was still high.
"It is sad that some of these unborn babies are still getting the virus as their first birthday presents."
He said the meeting would also enable various HIV/AIDS stakeholders to plan and monitor national responses to HIV/AIDS.
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