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Uganda's HIV Prevalence Rate Falls to 6.4 Percent

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 09:01 CST

Uganda's HIV prevalence rate falls to 6.4 percent

KAMPALA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Uganda has dropped from 6.5 percent to 6.4 percent, with 0.7 percent children under five years infected, local media quoting a survey reported Tuesday.

Presenting a February update, Wilford Lordson Kirungi, the medical epidemiologist at the AIDS Control Program said the capital city of Kampala came first in the prevalence by region with 8.5 percent, with West Nile coming last with 2.3 percent.

By religion, the prevalence among respondents aged between 15 and 49 indicated that Anglicans are the most infected at 7.1 percent, followed by Catholics and other Christians who tied at 6. 3 percent.

The survey, conducted between 2004 and 2005, involved 10,437 households randomly selected from 417 clusters (25 per cluster). Individual interviews were used to collect data on social and demographic variables like attitude, sexual behavior and knowledge.

Kirungi also noted the radio was by far the most vital source of information about HIV/AIDS and that awareness of the modes of HIV transmission is high, with almost 90 percent of adults knowing one uninfected faithful partner can reduce the chances of getting AIDS.

"Rejection of misconceptions related to HIV is also widespread. 74 percent of women and 84 percent of men know that a healthy- looking person may be HIV-positive and more than four in five know that HIV cannot be transmitted by witchcraft or by sharing food with someone who has AIDS," the survey revealed.

Women topped the overall HIV prevalence in Uganda by sex, with 7.5 percent between 15 and 49 years old infected compared to their male counterparts with 6.4 percent.

Kirungi said prevalence increased steadily with the number of partners, from 5 percent among those who did not have sex in the previous 12 months to 9 percent among men who had more than three partners in the previous year.

Uganda was successful in controlling the spread of AIDS among African counties with the help of government promoted national guidelines in the past few years.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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