West Nile leaders identify hotspots aiding new HIV infections
Dr Christopher Dradiku, the coordinator of community health services at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, while presenting the status of HIV prevalence in the West Nile, said 4,205 new infections were registered in the region during the FY 2022/23.
Westnile stakeholders attending the two day Joint Heath Sector Review Mission in Arua City. (Photos by Robert Adiga)
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_____________________ secretary for health Adjumani district local government John Saguni
West Nile leaders have identified some of the hotspots aiding the rampant spread of HIV in the region.
The hotspot areas were revealed during the two-day Joint Health Sector Review Mission in Arua city.
The event took place at Desert Breeze between Thursday and Friday last week.
The identification of the hotspot areas follows the revelation that the prevalence rate of HIV infection stood at 2.3 percent in FY2022/23, the second lowest to Karamoja with a registered prevalence rate of 1.3 percent.
Dr Christopher Dradiku, the coordinator of community health services at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, while presenting the status of HIV prevalence in the West Nile, said 4,205 new infections were registered in the region during the FY 2022/23.
The women had the biggest percentage of new infections at 67 percent.
Among the hotspots identified include Arua city with 723 infections (4.4%), followed by Zombo at 549 (3.5%), Nebbi at 663 (3.4%), and Pakwach district at 496 infections (3.3%) while the districts with the least infection rate in the region are Yumbe and Maracha all with 1.0 percent, while Terego and Koboko registered 1.3 percent new infections.
Meanwhile, the viral suppression across the region is still below the national target of 95% with Yumbe only attaining 88 per cent.
The leaders have also identified the driving factor for the new positive in the hotspot areas such as oil exploration business, border districts with transit points, and landing sites.
Packwach district environmental health officer Judith Fuathum Kigezi said a lot of factors have illuminated the boom in sexual immorality in the district including the oil, being a gateway to West Nile, and traditional marriages among others.
The secretary for health of Adjumani district local government, John Saguni, said the district health department has already identified the hotspot areas to target including in the communities where charcoal burning is still rampant.
According to him, by the next such joint review mission, the district of Adjumani should be able to come up with better HIV indicators since they have identified most of the hotspot areas in the district.
Emmanuel Ayikobua, the medical co-ordinator refugee services and community linkages IDI Arua says, they have targeted interventions in selected hotspot districts including Pakwach where they have identified hotspots areas to conduct targeted HIV testing and social network strategy to curb the spread.
“Based on our recent HIV tests, we are noting where most of these new infections are coming from and we have targeted interventions for them. We aim to harvest the positives so that we put them into care and as IDI we are still on top of the game,” Ayikobua said
Pakwach chief administrative officer Moses Dalili said despite the region registering a reduction in new infections compared to the 2021/22 financial year, there is no need for laxity especially in the hotspot districts.
“We must trace these hotspots like Pakwach which are targeted by lorry truck drivers, the landing site, and the oil exploration campaign and we should also focus on urban areas like Arua city and together we should be able to achieve better results new year”, Dalili said
Other key observations made by the leaders include the high rate of positives among the age bracket of 20-29 years, low testing among male partners during the antenatal care visits, and low case identification across the region.