Government under the guidance of the health ministry has today kicked off a nationwide survey to assess HIV prevalence, incidence and access to prevention, care and treatment services.
The survey code-named the Uganda Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA) survey 2016 and based on content targets 13,000 households with a total population of 33, 642 participants between the ages 0-64 including 24,049 adults aged 15 to 64 years and 9,593 children aged 0-14 years.
The implementation of this survey is by the Ministry of Health with support from the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs-ICAP, through the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Other partners include Uganda Virus Research Institute and Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
The head of Uganda Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA) survey 2016, Dr Alex Opio, says data collected from the survey will assess and inform government planning and interventions in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda with a view of drastically reducing incidence and prevalence rates in Uganda.
Participants will receive free Counseling and testing services for HIV, syphilis and Hepatitis B during the exercise that will last six months.
Director ICAP Uganda Dr David Worth explains the data will help increase the reach out to Most at Risk Populations that were previously not captured in Uganda's HIV data records.
The research will be conducted by a team of 300 people. Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng says she is optimistic that the outcome will reflect progress made in reducing prevalence rates across the country over the last five years.
Currently, the national HIV prevalence rates are estimated at 7.3 percent, according to the Aids Indicator Survey conducted in 2011. The current HIV/AIDS incidence lies at 95,000 new cases compared to the targeted 71,000 in the last 10 years.
