110,000 Children Living With HIV. 29/11/10
Only 42% have access to antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs
By Andrew Ssenyonga
29 November 2010
About 110,000 children under the age of 15 years have been infected with HIV in Uganda. Of these, only 42% have access to antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs, Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, the Uganda Pediatrics Association (UPA) president, has said.
Kitaka explained that those who have access to treatment mainly live in Kampala and are attached to organisations like Mildmay Uganda and Baylor Uganda in Mulago Hospital.
She added that 25,000 new infections occur every year, mainly through mother-to-child transmission: "The situation of HIV/AIDS in children is appalling because 80 vertical transmissions occur every year in Uganda," Kitaka noted.
She was speaking during the children and HIV/AIDS advocacy meeting organised by the National Council for Children at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala last week.
Kitaka said in Uganda, just like in other developing countries, a lot of emphasis is put on fighting the epidemic in the adult population.
"Only 42% of children in need of antiretroviral therapy are getting it, compared to 61% in adults," she explained.
Kitaka said that facilities to prevent mother-to-child transmission are available in 79% of all health facilities in Uganda, but paediatric HIV treatment and care services exist in only 21%.
She said stigma was one of the reasons 58% of Uganda's children cannot access ARVs.
"Many children are stigmatised by communities, teachers and fellow children and this has made them shy away from testing and treatment," Kitaka noted.
She also attributed the problem to inadequate capacity in rural health units to provide paediatric HIV/AIDS treatment and care.
Catherine Nakidde, a child living with HIV, called for the setting up of guidelines on early infant diagnosis and care to provide information to health workers.