Analysts predict more individuals will have to pay for treatment in private clinics as government fails to deliver on its pledges and donors flee health sector In September 2013 when her mother was first diagnosed with cervical cancer, Fausta Akech was a young professional doing her first job as a …
Read More »HIV/AIDS stigma lives on in Rwanda
Rwanda has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates on the African continent. Over the last decade, Rwanda has managed to stabilize the prevalence of HIV; the virus that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), at 3% in the general population aged 15-49 years. But despite or because of …
Read More »HIV rates still high
Rate at which girls in the age bracket of 14-24 are getting infected alarming When it comes to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Uganda is classified as a high burden country by UNAIDS, the international agency that is at the helm of mustering a joint response to the disease. High numbers of …
Read More »HIV/AIDS treatment
New interventions to offer women, children better protection Zam Kabali is a secondary school teacher in Kampala and so was her husband. In 2000, he fell sick and for the next four months, his health was only deteriorating. As he developed a rash all over his body and became sicker, …
Read More »Without a vaccine the AIDS epidemic can still end, UNAIDS boss
Over the years, the HIV/AIDS discussion has changed from tackling transmission to treatment and prevention. Worldwide, experts are now looking to a cure to end the epidemic.In Uganda, however, despite efforts to reduce new infections, what still baffles experts are the increasing infection rates in adolescents now at 66% of …
Read More »Film on Kaguri’s Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project premieres Dec 1
Documentary film about the inspiring story of AIDS orphans schools built by one of CNN’s 2012 heroes Jackon Twesigye Kaguri, to premiere in Kampala At 8.00 am on a Friday morning, dozens of pupils line up to receive their breakfast prepared by a team of cooks. Some are orphaned. All …
Read More »HIV infections level off at ‘worrying’ 2.5 mn a year
Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and patients live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said Tuesday. New infections have plateaued after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said …
Read More »HEALTH: Worries persist over heavy dependence on donors
Ailing health sector: Sector gets increment but worries over heavy dependence on donors persist Every time the budget is presented, citizens take a hard look at the allocation to the health sector. This year, the government has unveiled an ambitious budget of Shs26trillion of which Shs1,826.49bn is going to the …
Read More »More than 2,000 Indians contract HIV after transfusions
More than 2,000 Indians contracted HIV over a 17-month period after receiving blood transfusions, data from the national AIDS body showed Wednesday. In response to a Right to Information request filed by Mumbai-based activist Chetan Kothari, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said 2,234 people had been infected between October …
Read More »Tackling next challenge in HIV/Aids treatment
By Flavia Nassaka Experts call for shift from CD4 to Viral load testing, suppression The biggest challenge HIV/AIDS treatment providers face today is achieving and maintaining undetectable levels of HIV in the blood of patients. Dr. Williams Moullado, the HIV monitoring officer at Medecins San Forentieres (MSF), an international medical …
Read More »