The declining HIV seroprevalence in Uganda: what evidence?

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa astride the equator with a population of about 18 million people increasing at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent. The country is divided into 39 administrative districts, each with an average population of about half a million. The population structure is similar to that of other countries in the region where half the population is below 16 years old. Uganda is one of the countries in Africa where AIDS was recognized as a public health problem relatively early, in the mid-1980s. HIV seroprevalence among pregnant women in the capital city, Kampala, was found to be about 15 per cent in 1986 when HIV screening was first done. The prevalence levels rose steadily until 1989-1990 when levels in various prenatal clinics in Kampala city stabilized between 25 and 30 per cent. Reports of falling HIV prevalence rates in 1995 were therefore received as very good news in a society where virtually everyone has in some way been affected by the epidemic and where health workers, public leaders and the general public have all been severely demoralized by the epidemic. Sources of available evidence