Leaders and stakeholders in Fort Portal City are alarmed by the increasing number of HIV/AIDS infections among women, expressing grave concerns over the implications for the city’s efforts to combat the disease by 2030.
Despite the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate remaining steady at 17 percent in Fort Portal City, there is a troubling trend of new infections disproportionately affecting women rather than men.
Stakeholders warn that failure to promptly address this pattern could significantly impede the city’s progress in eradicating the scourge of HIV/AIDS by the set target year of 2030.
According to Evan Amara, the HIV/AIDS focal person for Fort Portal City, the current count of people living with HIV/AIDS stands at 20,848, with women comprising 62 percent (12,924) and men 38 percent (7,922) as of December 2023.
Between October and December 2023, 237 new cases of HIV/AIDS were reported, with 100 male and 137 female cases recorded across 13 health facilities in the city. Out of these new infections, 27 were acquired within the past year, with 15 of them occurring among individuals aged 20 to 34, signaling a worrying trend of increasing infections among the youth.
Among the accredited facilities providing HIV/AIDS services, Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital caters to the highest number of affected individuals, with 8,134 cases, predominantly comprising women. Other facilities, including Virika Hospital, Kabarole Church of Uganda Hospital, Bukuku Health Centre IV, and Kataraka Health Centre IV, also report significant numbers of cases.
During a meeting between Ministry of Health officials and city leaders, stakeholders attributed the rising infections among women to their vulnerability and exposure, citing factors such as increased sex work and low condom usage.
Moreen Kyobutungi, executive director of the Kabarole Women Health Initiative and a sex worker herself, highlighted the prevalence of underage sex workers in Fort Portal City, linking it to poverty and domestic violence.
She emphasized the reluctance of some men to use condoms during commercial sex transactions, leading to the transmission of HIV/AIDS among sex workers and subsequently to the broader community.
Many women, burdened with caring for their families, turn to sex work as a means of financial support, further exacerbating the spread of the disease.
Data from the Ministry of Health reveals that 45 percent of sex workers in Fort Portal City are living with HIV/AIDS, reflecting the gravity of the situation.
Margie Nakate, another sex worker, shed light on the prevalence of school dropouts among her colleagues, highlighting the economic vulnerability that drives many young girls into the streets.
Rev Sarah Kakyo from Ruwenzori Diocese raised concerns about cross-generational sex, where older men infected with HIV/AIDS engage in relationships with younger girls, resulting in the transmission of the virus.
Betty Mujungu, Deputy Mayor of Fort Portal City, emphasized the importance of behavior change and dispelling stereotypes in the Tooro Sub-region. She called for a reevaluation of HIV/AIDS messaging to resonate with the current generation’s preferences for communication through music and drama.
Against the backdrop of Uganda AIDS Commission’s revelation that more than two-thirds of new HIV infections among young women in 2022 occurred in the age group of 15 to 25, the urgency of addressing the rising infections among women in Fort Portal City cannot be overstated.
