Half of Ugandans receive treatment

A Ugandan parliament speaker has urged the government to step up its fight against Aids after revealing fewer than half of people with HIV received treatment last year.

Edward Ssekandi told New Vision 312,000 people needed anti-retroviral therapy in 2007, but only 120,000 received them.

Uganda should boost efforts to treat the virus, which affects 25,000 babies every year and more than 135,000 new annual infections, he said.

Speaking to 1,000 people at The Aids Support Organisation's 17th annual meeting, he called for a fresh approach to tackling the virus.

According to a national sero-behavioural survey conducted between 2004 and 2005, most of the people with HIV/Aids in Uganda were aged between 30 and 40.

"This could lead to less productivity for the country because this is the most productive age," he added.

The national HIV prevalence rate remains high in Uganda at 6.4 per cent, compared with a rate of 0.2 per cent in the UK.

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