Health officials have announced two major breakthroughs that will dramatically turn around the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
According to official figures from the Ministry of Health, Uganda has reached a tipping point whereby the number of people initiated on anti-retroviral treatment exceeds the number of new HIV infections over the same period. This is expected to dramatically reduce AIDS deaths as well as new infections.
At the same time, a new treatment approach for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) has scored close to 100% success where it has been implemented.
According to Dr Godfrey Esiru, national coordinator of the PMTCT programme, of all the women who took the new treatment approach referred to as Option B+ over the past two years, between 96% and 100% have produced HIV-free babies. Under the new treatment, the pregnant women start taking ARVs daily as soon as they test HIV positive, and continue even after delivery.
As a result of PMTCT, the number of babies born with HIV annually has reduced from 25,000 in 2001 to 15,000 in 2012 and is set to reduce further this year.
Agencies
