SATURDAY, December 1was World AIDS Day. Uganda has been at the forefront of fighting HIV/AIDS and became the first African country to reduce HIV infection rates. By 2002, the rate had come down to 6.2% from 18% in 1992. This success story is attributed to strong political leadership spearheaded by President Yoweri Museveni.

One of the most effective weapons that was employed when the disease was ravaging the country was the policy of speaking openly about it and canvassing international support. As a result of this bold policy when stigma about the disease was rife, Uganda has been cited as a model for other countries to learn from. Since then, the Government has initiated a number of effective medical interventions to fight the epidemic.

However, there is a new phenomenon which had hitherto not been given close attention. It has been discovered that the number of discordant couples in Uganda has more than doubled in the last four years. According to the Uganda AIDS Commission boss, Dr David Kihumuro Apuuli, the percentage of discordant couples has shot from 22% to 48% in just four years. A discordant couple is one in which one of the two partners is HIV-positive, while the other is negative.

According to the AIDS Commission statistics, 96% of married people in Uganda do not know their HIV status. This calls for renewed vigilance in the fight against the disease because this discovery is likely to compromise the country’s achievements. There is need for renewed efforts to emphasise openness because a high prevalence of the infection in married people is particularly worrying because of its spiral effect among the couples and the children they beget.

Knowing that some people are discordant is a great opportunity because it is easier to intervene and prevent infection. It is vital, therefore, to encourage married people to establish their HIV status so that they do not pass on the virus if they are found to be discordant.