Free Access | 2024-04-12

Rising New HIV/AIDS Infections Among Women in Uganda and the Growing HIV Funding Gap

Authors/Editors: Smartson Ainomugisha

Abstract:

While Uganda has registered significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past decades, new HIV infections remain high, with some segments of the population disproportionately affected. This policy brief highlights the differences in the new HIV infections between women and men of different age groups, geographical locations, HIV testing and implications of growing HIV funding gap on the target to achieve zero new HIV infections by 2030. The results show that new HIV infections are on a rise among women and declining among men across all age groups, new HIV infections are higher among the cities, a higher proportion of men have never tested for HIV than women, and the growing HIV funding gap may slowdown efforts to achieve zero new HIV infections. Therefore, the government should strengthen efforts for women economic and psychological empowerment, shutdown commercial sex websites and applications, intensify sensitisation of the population to use condoms to reduce the risk of HIV infection, strengthen efforts for HIV awareness and prevention measures in cities and among young men and women, and increase Government HIV funding.