BY CHRIS OCOWUN

Mothers living with HIV/AIDS in Gulu district have for the last one year delivered 307 HIV-negative babies under the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programme.

The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) Gulu coordinator, Dr. Brian Ngwatu, said only 10 children tested HIV-positive. “A total of 192 mothers delivered from the health units and 34 delivered at their homes. The 10 HIV-positive babies were delivered from home and not in the hospital,” Ngwatu explained.

The mothers and other people living with HIV/AIDS in the district are now asking development partners to support them with food relief and school fees for the orphans and other vulnerable children.

The people living with HIV are worried about the rate at which NGOs are scaling down their support and care. “We are trying to link them with partners who can provide them with food,” Ngwatu said.

According to Ngwatu, of the 15,334 persons living with HIV registered by TASO, only 150 are receiving food rations. “Of these, 810 are children and 9,404 are active clients who come to TASO for check-ups and treatment,” Ngwatu said.

He said 3,545 of the registered HIV adult clients and 266 children are already on ARV drugs. “There has been an overwhelming improvement in the number of people seeking HIV counselling and testing,” Ngwatu said.

Speaking to New Vision at Gulu TASO offices on Monday, Ngwatu said the district had the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country.