KQ3 Uganda

• Uganda experiences poor sanitation and inadequate health
care.
• Their patient-bed ratio is 5 beds for every 10000 people in the
population.
• The life expectancy at birth in Uganda is 53.8 years.

HIV/AIDS

• Uganda’s most serious health concern is HIV/AIDS.
• The 1


st epidemic of HIV/AIDS is believed to happen in the
1970s in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of
Congo. It is speculated that an infected person from
Cameroon carried the virus to Kinshasa which then entered
the wide urban sexual and transportation networks in the
capital. Very quickly it reached Lake Victoria, which is along
the borders of
3 countries: Kenya,
Uganda & Tanzania.
• Thereafter,
HIV/AIDS quickly
reached an
epidemic level.
• Uganda was badly
affected by early
1980s.

Why HIV/AIDS is so prevalent in urban areas

  1. The spread of HIV/AIDS followed
    the movement of people
    (widespread labour migration).
  2. In turn, the movement accelerated
    by major highways that connect
    many countries in Africa.
  3. There was a high ratio of men in the
    urban population.
  4. Sex workers in their midst played a
    large part in the accelerated
    transmission rate of HIV/AIDS.

Challenges

  1. SOCIAL STIGMA associated with


    having HIV/AIDS has prevented


    many who are infected with the


    disease from receiving antiretroviral


    therapy, including children. There is


    a general denial by many parents


    that their children are HIV-positive.


  2. Problems accessing antiretroviral


    drugs proves a big challenge. Many


    prefer to get their drugs in towns for


    the sake of anonymity, and it means


    travelling long distances. A lack of


    income to get proper transport,


    many end up not able to adhere to


    their treatment schedules.


  3. Uganda faces rising number of people infected with HIV in recent


    years. This has increased Uganda’s financial burden and has had


    an impact on the economy.


  4. Extramarital affairs are pushing up Ugandan HIV infection rate


    because many adults have this perception that antiretroviral drugs


    will heal them in case they get infected.

Social and economy impacts

  1. Annually, 130000 Ugandans are infected
    with HIV/AIDS and 64000 die of AIDS.
    HIV/AIDS has caused more deaths among
    the female population than the male
    population. The high death rates among the
    females has resulted in fewer children being
    born. This has had an impact on the
    economy as the workforce has been
    reduced.
  2. HIV/AIDS has economic impacts on
    households. Men infected with HIV/AIDS
    are less productive at work due to
    absenteeism from poor health, thus bringing
    less income for the family. When these men
    die, they often leave behind widows and
    children who have no means to support
    themselves.
  3. HIV/AIDS epidemic has reduced the
    labour supply in the country. As a
    result, there is a shortage of labour for

agriculture. Crops that are labour-
intensive are abandoned in favour of


crops that do not need much labour,
such as cassava.

  1. 15% to 27% of public officers (skilled and highly-trained) died of
    HIV/AIDS from 1995 to 1999. The skills and knowledge of these
    workers are not easily transferrable. A loss of skilled workers due
    to HIV/AIDS will incur higher labour costs to recruit and train new
    people.
  2. Cost of dealing with HIV/AIDS is a huge financial burden on
    Uganda.
     World Bank: It costs US$5900 per year to treat a HIV/AIDS patient,
    an amount that is 12 times Uganda’s GDP per capita.
     This high cost is economically unsustainable in Uganda. Almost 85%
    of the cost of HIV prevention and treatment are borne by donors
    who may not increase their funding when treatment costs rise in
    future.

Measurements taken

  1. Ugandan Health Minister publicly acknowledged at a conference
    for the world’s health officials in 1986 that HIV/AIDS had emerged
    in Uganda. This then began the process of managing HIV/AIDS in
    the country.
  1. The new government then established an AIDS control programme
    in 1987 called ABC programme to educate the public about how to
    avoid being infected with HIV/AIDS.
  1. In 1992, Uganda’s AIDS
    Commission was established to
    oversee, plan and coordinate
    HIV/AIDS prevention and control
    activities throughout Uganda. It
    also forged strong relationships
    between government, community
    and religious leaders to promote
    its message of ABC.
  1. A National Strategic Plan was
    developed to address prevention,
    care, treatment and social
    support.
  1. Following the strategic
    direction of the Ugandan
    government, local
    communities form ‘The AIDS
    Support Organisation’
    (TASO) to provide HIV/AIDS
    health care services as well
    as emotional and medical
    support to many thousands
    of HIV-positive Ugandans. It
    is run by 16 volunteers who
    had been personally affected
    by HIV/AIDS.
  1. The openness of the Ugandan
    government, coupled with the urgency of
    the epidemic in the country, made it easy
    for many international organisations to be
    involved: International HIV/AIDS Alliance,
    the United Nations Population Fund
    (UNFPA) and the Supply Chain
    Management System (SCMS).

How successful

Uganda’s HIV prevalence
rate declined gradually from
14% in 1990 to 6.4% in 2008.

More people are going for
HIV screening these days.
The no. of pregnant women
who took up voluntary
testing for HIV increased
from 20% in 2005 to 66% in

  1. Early medical
    intervention can reduce the
    incidence of mother-to-child
    transmission of HIV.

Despite Uganda’s success in reducing the no. of HIV/AIDS following
an early comprehensive HIV prevention campaign, there are
indications that HIV/AIDS are on the rise from 2009 to 2012.
Possible reasons are:
 Greater access to antiretroviral drug treatment reduces people’s
fear and urgency to get tested for HIV, hence increasing likelihood
of engaging in risky behaviour.
 Complacent attitude towards HIV/AIDS after many years of
campaign (AIDS-fatigue).
 Ugandan women tend to marry young and lack sufficient
knowledge of sex education.
 Social stigma continues to marginalise people who are living with
HIV/AIDS.

The fight against HIV/AIDS or diseases in general, is an on-going battle
not only for individual countries but the whole world as well. Diseases
are getting more resistant to existing drugs. Mass movement of people
across the world with advanced transportation make it hard to contain the
spread of diseases. There is an urgent need for international and regional
organisations, countries, local communities and individuals to work
closely together to confront the changing face of diseases in the 21st
century.