9,600 Ugandan youth aged (15-19) are newly infected with HIV annually, health ministry.

BY WASWA TENYWA

Health officers in the country have been argued to commit themselves for high quality health services despite critics and challenges upon the adaptation of their works.

Speaking during the reproductive, maternal, newborn,child and Adolescent health symposium at Imperial Royale hotel in Kampala, the Director General of national population council at the ministry of Health Dr. Musinguzi Jotham revealed that HIV prevalence has continued to reduce to 6.2% compared to 2006 when it was at 6.4% adding that this has been a result of medical officers’ hard work.

Dr. Musinguzi said the number of teenagers involving in sexual activities and marriages has also continued to reduce to 17.4%.

“Annually, 9,600 young people (15-19) are newly infected with HIV. 66% of new HIV infections are concentrated among adolescent girls, 94% of adolescents are aware about #HIV yet only 43% adolescents have ever tested for #HIV”, said Musinguzi.

He says 34.8% of Uganda’s population are adolescents yet 80% of Uganda’s youth live in rural areas while 1 out of 4 young people aged 10-24 live in urban areas.

Dr. Petua Kiboko, the acting commissioner for Nurses at the ministry of health expressed dismay over the insufficient number of nurses and midwives in the country which she says has led to the death of over 336 babies during the birth.

Dr. Kiboko says in 2006 there were 48,000 nurses in the country but the number has continued to diminish as the ministry looks on. She said the ratio of nurses to patients is 1: 11,000 which means each nurse or midwife works on 11,000 patients, adding that this poses risks including patients losing lives as a means of insufficient treatment.

Meanwhile Dr. Olaro Charles the director of clinical services at the ministry of health who represented the minister of health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng at the opening of the reproductive, maternal, Newborn, child and Adolescent health symposium said they have attained a loan approved by parliament to empower the fight against increasing mortality rates.