Hard-hit Uganda making progress against AIDS

by CNN Interactive Writer Gregg Russell

(CNN) -- Uganda is at the epicenter of the worldwide AIDS epidemic. Not only is this poor central African nation one of the world's hardest hit by AIDS, but the virus that causes the disease likely originated nearby. The earliest known case of HIV infection was recently traced to a man living in the country on Uganda's western border (then the Belgian Congo) in 1959.

Since AIDS was first diagnosed in Uganda in 1984, more than 400,000 people have died from the disease and another 1.5 million people have been infected with HIV. Combined, that's 10 percent of Uganda's population.

Yet even as the devastation continues -- every year, an average 2,500 more Ugandans die from AIDS -- the government's effort to combat the disease is drawing praise from public health officials around the world.

Uganda: At a Glance

Population: 20 million (July 1996 est.) Languages: English (official), Luganda, Swahili, Bantu languages, Nilotic languages Capital: Kampala Ethnic divisions: Baganda 17%, Karamojong 12%, Basogo 8%, Iteso 8%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Bunyoro 3%, Batobo 3%, European, Asian, Arab 1%, other 23% Religions: Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% Independence: 9 October 1962 (from UK) Bordering countries: Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km, Zaire 765 km Life expectancy: 44.9 years Literacy: 62 percent (1994) GDP per capita: $900 (1995 est.) Unemployment rate: NA Radios: One per 10 persons Televisions: One per 158 persons Telephones: One per 830 persons Average daily newspaper circulation: 35,000 (1994) Did you know? Four of East Africa's Great Lakes--Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga, Lake Albert, and Lake Edward--lie within Uganda or on its borders. SOURCES: United Nations; U.S. Library of Congress; news reports

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Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, Director-General of the World Health Organization, heralded Uganda's efforts as early as 1995, at the opening of the Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD's in Africa.

"(Uganda), and its president in particular, must be commended for the leadership they have shown in their fight against HIV/AIDS," he said. "President Museveni is today rewarded for his openness and uncompromising stand against discrimination and stigmatization. Thanks to these efforts, the epidemic in Uganda is the first in Africa and in any developing country to show signs of stabilization ..."

A recent joint report from the United Nations and the World Health Organization says Uganda may even have begun turning back the disease.

"Uganda was one of the first African countries to take high- profile action to contain the spread of the virus," the report noted. "It continues to see a drop in the proportion of adults infected: figures gathered in 1997 from three surveillance sites indicate infection levels of between 5 and 9 per cent -- a decrease of about one-fifth compared with 1996. And the decrease appears to be concentrated in the younger age groups, confirming findings that the youth have adopted safer sexual practices than was the case a decade ago."

Dr. Omwony Ojwok, director general of Uganda's AIDS Commission, says the level of HIV infection has fallen in all age groups since 1991.

Education and condoms

How did Uganda begin to turn the tide? The decline in HIV infection rates is widely credited to Uganda's aggressive campaign to educate people on ways to avoid contracting the virus.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni embraced the AIDS fight and personally campaigned to increase awareness. The government began distributing condoms or selling them at subsidized rates. On radio, television, and in schools, health officials began spreading the message that more condoms and less casual sex can stop the spread of AIDS.

Ugandan officials say data indicate their efforts are paying off. Government statistics show people are delaying their first sexual experience, having fewer sex partners, and using more condoms.

Uganda also has begun a program to eliminate other sexually transmitted diseases, since the lesions they cause can facilitate the spread of the AIDS virus.

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"It is important to emphasize the need for political will," Dr. Ojwok noted. "That guarantees mobilization of enough resources."

"Ours is the only country in the world where concrete information and data have emerged showing that the struggle against AIDS can achieve results."

One of the most hopeful aspects of Uganda's apparent success is the example it could set for another nations in Africa and around the world. If a nation as impoverished as Uganda can summon the resources to make progress in the battle against AIDS, surely more prosperous countries can do the same.

So far, though, there are few signs Uganda's success will be repeated elsewhere.

Dr. Michel Carael, from the U.N. AIDS office in Geneva, said HIV infections in some other African are declining, although not as much as in Uganda.

"But we must stress that infection levels across the region remain unacceptably high," Carael said.

Botswana | Ghana | Rwanda | Senegal | South Africa | Uganda | Main  

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