High HIV/AIDS prevalence among the young population worries experts
SOROTI- Experts fighting HIV/AIDS in the Teso region have raised concern over the high HIV/AIDs prevalence rate among the young population aged 20-24 years.
Teso sub-region comprises 10 districts of Amuria, Soroti, Katakwi, Kapelebyong, Kumi, Ngora, Bukedea, Serere, Kalaki, Kaberamaido, and Soroti City.
Dr. Ronald Opito, the programme manager The AIDS Support Organisation [TASO] Soroti regional office said, ‘According to the preliminary results of the 2020 Uganda Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment [UPHIA], Teso region HIV/AIDs prevalence rate among the young people aged 20 to 24 years stands at 4.5 percent up from 3.7 percent in the past five years.”
This means the prevalence rate has increased by 8 percent in the last five years, he said.
UPHIA 2020 is a nationwide survey that was conducted to provide estimates of HIV incidence, HIV prevalence, viral load suppression, and other important HIV/AIDS programme indicators.
Dr. Opito said that the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among adolescents is coupled with low levels of viral load suppression among HIV-infected persons aged 15 to 24 years.
This he said calls for the need for earlier prevention and testing interventions among at-risk adolescents, particularly girls and young women.
“As we talked now, HIV is still the biggest threat in the region. The 4.5 percent prevalence means that in every 20 individuals, at least one person is living with it,” Opito said.
Unfortunately, he said, with HIV/AIDS when one acquires it, he or she stays with it for life with the potential of spreading it to other people.
“Someone continuous to spread for as long as he or she is still sexually active, which exposes others at risk,” he said.
To arrest the situation, Opito urged the leaders and members of the community in the region to double their efforts in fighting against HIV/AIDS, adding that this starts with the community knowing their HIV/AIDS status.
“For those who already have it, we enroll them in treatment and support to suppress their viral load,” he said.
The latest preliminary statistics indicate that there is an increase in HIV/AIDS prevalence amongst the young population in Teso compared to the previous statistic done five years ago which was indicating 3.7 percent.
“The survey done in 2016-2017, had Teso and Karamoja regions combined but in the latest, Karamoja is split with a prevalence of 2.1 percent,” Opito said.
Teso region has a total of 6,061 clients receiving treatment in TASO Soroti center for excellence. Out of 106 health facilities supported by the TASO Soroti region, there are 41,820 clients receiving treatment. And 2191 clients from Southern Karamoja.
Dr. Suzan Alwedo the care and treatment manager of TASO Soroti regional office said their main aim is to achieve the 95, 95, and 95 percent UNAIDS target by 2030 and the region has so far achieved 96 percent.
The remaining 4 percent are children and adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19 years, both girls and boys.
“The young people are the new generation of tomorrow, the old people are on treatment and young children but we are missing the adolescents. This stifles our effort and we are focusing on them,” she explained.
She added that TASO would want to enroll all age groups of people living with HIV/AIDS for treatment. This, she said, would mean that their viral load is suppressed, and not be able to spread the virus.
“As we speak, the viral load suppression in the Teso region is at 89 percent and we would like to push this to over 95 percent. We encourage the community to support the people living with HIV/AIDS to know their status,” she said.
According to the 2020 UPHIA, HIV/AIDS among adults aged 15 to 49 years is currently at 5.5 percent, reflecting a slight decrease from 6.0 percent recorded five years ago.
The magnitude of HIV prevalence varies considerably across the 11 geographic regions in the survey, from a low of 2.1 percent in the North East [Karamoja] region to 2.8 percent in the West-Nile region; 4.2 percent in the Mid-Eastern region; 4.2 percent, in North East [Teso] region its 4.5 percent.
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