THE CHALLENGE:

Nearly 30 million of the world’s population living with HIV/AIDS is in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Uganda has been one of the most successful African countries in reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

Thanks to a remarkable political commitment, and the personal involvement of President Museveni in the intensive ‘ABC’ campaigns, prevalence rates were reduced by more than half over the last two decades, from 18% (1992) to 6.4% (2005), making Uganda the African success story on HIV/AIDS.

However, contrary to the current global trend, new infections are now on the rise in Uganda, with an estimated 130,000 new infections annually. This is close to the total number of infected people at the height of the epidemic in 1994. The rate of new infections each year has been rising among those aged between 30-34 years in urban areas.

In the capital city Kampala alone, the prevalence rate is as high as 8.5%, and Ugandan adults living in urban areas are almost twice as likely to be HIV-infected, compared to their counterparts in rural areas. This has potentially devastating consequences on the economy, labour supply and productivity, overall production, revenues, and impact on families and communities.

Regional disparities also impact on the spread of the epidemic (with the northern regions affected by conflict at 8.3%) while women continue to have higher prevalence of HIV across all age categories and regions of the country. Overall, it is estimated that 1 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

THE RESPONSE:

Responding to HIV and AIDS is one of UNDP’s core priorities, and as a co-sponsor of UNAIDS, the focus at country level is to ensure that HIV/AIDS is mainstreamed in the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), to protect the rights of people living with HIV, and to create an enabling macro-economic environment in relation to HIV/AIDS.

UNDP has been supporting the Government to assess the macro-economic impact of HIV/ AIDS (a first in Uganda) and to build national capacity to articulate and integrate HIV issues into the national planning and programming. UNDP Uganda also engages in policy dialogue for resource allocation to HIV, and supports the development of policies and guidelines on HIV/AIDS.

Bharam Namanya
HIV/AIDS Programme Analyst
bharam.namanya@undp.org