PRESS STATEMENT ON THE UGANDA POPULATION BASED HIV IMPACT ASSESSMENT.

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Health conducts population level surveys to inform the planning for HIV activities after every five years. The last one was conducted in 2011 and this was known as the Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey(UAIS 2011). This has been very useful in improvement of the HIV interventions in this country over the past five years.

The previous round of AIDS Indicator Survey shows that HIV prevalence in the general population in Uganda increased from 6.4% in 2004/5 to 7.3% by 2011,  tallying with the 2013 HIV estimates which show that HIV prevalence stabilized around 7.4% in 2012/2013. This however seemed to undermine the fact that the country that was well known for earlier interventions that drastically reduced the prevalence in the earlier years of the epidemic is seeing a reversal. However the stagnation of HIV prevalence was partly due to the high coverage of ART program where the number of PLHIV enrolled on ART increased from about 330,000 in 2011 to about 750,896 in 2014 and the reduction in AIDS related deaths from 67,000 to 63,000 in 2010 and 2013 respectively, and down to 31,000 in 2014.

To further boost government efforts towards containing the scourge, this year, we are conducting another survey - the Uganda Population Based HIV Impact Assessment – that will measure the reach and impact of the country’s HIV prevention, care and treatment services. This nationwide household survey aims to estimate HIV incidence, prevalence, and viral load suppression among adults and children. UPHIA will also benchmark Uganda’s progress toward targets of 90% coverage in each area. This information is critical to helping Uganda chart a course to reach the UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 targets and ultimately bring the HIV epidemic under control.

The assessment exercise, which will be flagged off next month (August 2016) during a national launch in Kampala, will see up to 25 teams of trained personnel dispatched to all regions across the country. This survey will inform the next prevalence indicator and guide efforts towards reversing the HIV prevalence in the country.

Survey teams will visit approximately 13,000 randomly selected households throughout the country, who will voluntarily participate in the survey. Those who choose to participate will receive HIV counselling and testing in their home, with results returned the same day. Syphilis and hepatitis B tests will also be provided and results given on the same day.

Treatment of syphilis will be given at the household level while the HIV and Hepatitis B cases will be referred to health facilities. Children and adolescents are part of this survey. However, children will only be allowed to participate after obtaining permission from their parents or guardians.

UPHIA data will help Uganda sustain its achievements in responding to HIV, and help improve the response in the future while individuals who participate in the survey can contribute to improving health services for all Ugandans.

By combining interviews with in-home HIV counseling and testing, UPHIA can provide more accurate estimates of HIV incidence and prevalence in Uganda.

The assessment will be implemented with support from ICAP at Columbia University through the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The other partners include Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Westat and ICF Macro.

I wish to state that the success of this survey largely depends on the voluntary participation of the selected households countrywide and also on everyone encouraging and supporting the survey teams in the different enumeration areas.

It is against this background that we have engaged you as the media fraternity to partner with us in creation of awareness and play a role in engaging the different stakeholders in supporting this very noble cause.