Judul : 76% reduction in mothers infecting babies with HIV
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76% reduction in mothers infecting babies with HIV
What you need to know:
- Global fund cuts raise concerns despite Uganda’s HIV progress.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (Unaids) has hailed Uganda for reducing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV by 76 percent between 2010 and 2024. Mr Jotham Mubangizi, Unaids strategic information adviser, said the records in the Global Aids report update, which was launched on July 10, show good progress in the fight against HIV/Aids.
“On the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, we are grateful that Uganda has been able to achieve great success between 2010 and 2024, with a close to 76 percent reduction in MTCT. That's very great,” he said. However, he emphasised that the 4,700 new infections among babies in 2024 remain unacceptable, given the availability of effective prevention tools like preventive treatment. Mr Mubangizi identified stigma and lack of family support as key contributors to ongoing infections.
“We need media to help and push the message around addressing the issues of stigma within the community, ensuring the family support to be able to ensure that the mother, when she is expectant, continues to get the necessary visits to the health centre,” he said. “Because we also know the science and the data that is available indicate that transmission happens, especially during breastfeeding and during delivery when the mother is HIV-positive,” she added.
According to the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), MTCT of HIV dropped from 20,000 in 2010 to 4,700 in 2024. The UAC also reveals that in 2024, up to 100 percent of mothers who are HIV- positive were receiving treatment to prevent MTCT of HIV compared to 70 percent in 2010. Dr Robert Mutumba, head of the Aids Control Programme at the Ministry of Health, noted that vertical transmission accounted for 13 percent of new HIV infections in 2024, with 61 percent occurring during breastfeeding.
He highlighted that 80 percent of these infections stemmed from women discontinuing treatment or acquiring HIV during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
"Globally, as of last year, we see that close to 19 countries were able to almost eliminate HIV and Syphilis. In Africa, we only have Botswana and Namibia that are on the pathway to achieving the elimination target. And that target means that the transmission of these diseases from the mother to the baby is less than five percent," he revealed.
"Uganda is also close to the elimination of mother-to-child to child transmission of HIV. We see that we are performing at six percent. The target is less than five percent. So we are close, and we hope that with more interventions and scaling up what works across the entire country, very soon we will also be able to win this fight," he added.
Government interventions
Dr Mutumba credited the decline to heightened awareness efforts led by First Lady Janet Museveni, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, development partners, and community health workers. He outlined sustained measures, including testing all pregnant women during antenatal visits and initiating treatment for those diagnosed with HIV.
“We are currently retesting all pregnant mothers during labour, but also when you are breastfeeding, we retest you to identify these infections because the success lies in early treatment and timely initiation of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP),” he explained.
“Some pregnant women are at risk of acquiring HIV, and, therefore, we have now included PrEP. These interventions are aimed at ensuring we reduce the risk of transmission of the infection to their baby, but also for their own health -they can live a better quality of life,” he added. He, however, noted that some pregnant women reject HIV testing when they come for antenatal care, hindering efforts to prevent MTCT of HIV.
Triple Elimination Strategy
Dr Mutumba also revealed that Uganda is pursuing a triple elimination plan targeting HIV, Hepatitis B, and Syphilis by 2030. “As a country, we also have a national plan for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of these three diseases” he said.
But we also have other in-country frameworks and guidelines to eliminate these three diseases, including a framework on eliminating the transmission of viral Hepatitis B. But also, we have consolidated guidelines for the integrated management and prevention of HIV/Aids, but also this includes other diseases like tuberculosis and many others,” he added.
According to records from the UAC, the burden of HIV remains high, with 1.5 million living with the disease and 730 new infections happening every week in the country.
Global funds on hiv
Senior officials at the Ministry of Health reported a substancial reduction in Global Fund financing for HIV, malaria, and tuberclosis programmes. Global Fund noted that the US had contributed more than $26.31 billion (Shs97.55 trillion) to date and pledged up to $6 billion (Shs22.2 trillion) for the Seventh Replenishment period (2023–2025), hosted by the US government.
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