Africa-Press – Uganda. The US Ambassador to Uganda, Mr William W. Popp, has said there is a need to refocus the attention of the fight against HIV/Aids on vulnerable groups, such as young women and adolescent girls.
Mr Popp, who had paid a courtesy call on the Infectious Diseases Institute’s DREAMS programme’s safe space in Wakiso District at the week, said young women and adolescent girls are four times more vulnerable and are more likely to catch HIV.
The Determined, Resilient, Empowered, Aids-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) programme is a public-private partnership aimed at reducing rates of HIV among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in the highest HIV burden countries like Uganda.
“With the limited resources that we have, we must prioritise HIV responses to focus our attention on the most vulnerable populations. As we know, women and girls are three to four times more likely to become HIV positive,” he said.
According to the Uganda Aids Commission, in 2020, adolescent girls were four times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys.
The Commission also estimates that of the 52,000 new HIV infections that occur in Uganda annually, about 33,000 of them are registered among women compared to 20,000 infections among men.
Mr Popp, pledged that the US government would reenergise its support to HIV/Aids programmes and that PEPFAR would remain committed to achieving the shared goal of ending HIV/Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
The national data indicates that at the end of September 2023, about 1.4 million people in Uganda living with HIV were on PEPFAR-supported treatment and 1.2 million people had a confirmed suppressed viral load. It is estimated that most US government funding of over $500m (about Shs19.5b) annually, goes to supporting health programmes.
Dr Andrew Kambugu, the executive director of Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences Makerere University, said Africa still grapples with the crisis of HIV.
Gratitude
Dr Kambugu commended the US government through PEPFAR and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for supporting various projects being undertaken by IDI, such as the Kampala Region HIV project dubbed DREAMS, whose implementation commenced in 2020 in Wakiso District.
He requested the Wakiso District leadership to avail space where they could accommodate more young people and increase access to DREAM services.
Available records indicate that HIV prevalence in Wakiso District stands at 8.0 percent, compared to the national prevalence rate of about 5.1 percent.
Ms Robinah Nassali, the DREAMS Wakiso project officer, said the project supports about 42,000 beneficiaries, the majority of whom are former commercial sex workers and teenage mothers.
Ms Nassali said the beneficiaries are empowered with sexual and reproductive health information, including HIV prevention to make informed choices and stay safe.
In addition, they are skilled in the areas of fashion and design, hairdressing, photography and videography, and shoe making so that they are empowered economically.
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