Kampala

 

Only 12,000 out of the 50,000 children in Uganda who need antiretroviral therapy are getting treatment.

This emerged at the start of the second national pediatric HIV/Aids conference yesterday in Kampala.

 

Officiating at the conference, the First Lady, Ms Janet Museveni, said it was inconceivable that such a situation exists amid the presence of child-friendly AIDS drugs.

 

“This horrendous scenario is something that we must address without flinching,” Ms Museveni said.
Ms Museveni said she gets depressed each time she speaks about death and statistics of HIV infected children.

 

At present an estimated 110,000 children are living with HIV in the country.

Ms Museveni said Uganda was in dire need to sensitise young mothers so that they stop risking the babies’ lives.

 

“What is eluding us in our planning and delivery of services and why is it that the prevalence is increasing fastest among the child bearing age group of married couples?” Ms Museveni wondered.

 

“This is a grim picture and the future for our country will have serious consequences if we do not pay attention to what is needed,” she warned.

 

“What are we doing about increasing psychosocial care to our sick and traumatized children?” said the First lady, who also acknowledged the challenge facing the implementation of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.

 

The Director General of the Uganda Aids Commission Dr Kihumuro Apuuli said currently, mother to child transmission of HIV accounts for 22 per cent (25,000) of new infections that occur every year in the country, with 91,000 HIV positive women becoming pregnant annually.

 

Describing it as an unacceptable trend, Dr Kihumuro said: “We have a moral obligation and I am convinced that in this country we can reduce the number of infections.”

 

He said the condition was possible as the country had at one time managed to bring down the prevalence before. “Political will needs to be re energized,” he added.

 

Conference Official Phillipa Musoke observed that while there have been pockets of success in paediatric HIV, Uganda still has a long way to go because the country is lagging behind in what needs to be achieved.