AIDS Drug Demand Up In Uganda As Infection Rate Increases
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda in need of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has gone up as the East African countrys infection rate is increasing.
Elizabeth Namagala, a senior medical officer coordinating ART activities at the ministry of health, was quoted by the state- owned New Vision on Monday as saying that the number had risen from 120.000 to 160.000.
Her comment came at a time when World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the HIV/AIDS infection rate in Uganda is rising again after recording a success in the fight against the pandemic in the 1990s.
Currently, 86.000 patients in Uganda have gained access to the drugs, of which 6.800 are children below 15 years.
– There are many people living with the virus and increasingly their CD4 cells which is a measure of whether one qualifies for anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs are becoming less everyday, Namagala said.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
