How bars, poolside parties are fuelling HIV infections

The authorities in the eastern and northern parts of the country have expressed concern over the rise in HIV/Aids infections largely caused by a reckless lifestyle, especially during the night.

Statistics by the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) and The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) indicate that the new infections in the two regions are mainly among the youth.

Gulu City leaders have linked new HIV infections among young people to cross-generational sex resulting from poolside parties, bars, and school promos. Poolside parties were a rare scene in Gulu City but are steadily rising in public places, especially by the swimming pools in hotels.

Gulu City has consistently registered a rise in new HIV infection cases between the period between October 2023 and June 2024, according to Ms Florence Oyella, the disease focal person.

Between October and December 2023, Gulu City registered 307 new HIV infections of the 17,775 people tested.

Between January and March 2024, a total of 391 new infections were registered out of 9,864 people tested while between April and June 2024, a total of 404 new infections were registered from the 27,012 people tested.

Mr Morris Odong, the committee chairperson of community-based services in Gulu City, said: “We have started seeing activities such as pool parties, if you are to see what our young boys and girls do in the happening events of a pool party, you wonder!”

“Draw your attention to how we conduct ourselves in the name of ‘happening’, in the name of spending our leisure time. To what degree do we have young girls are prone to these elderly sick men but they do not mind who they interface with, it is an issue because having this cross-generational relationship is putting some certain populations at risk,” he added.

Mr Odong was speaking during a stakeholders meeting organised by the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) last Thursday.

Gulu City Mayor Alfred Okwonga, in his message delivered by Mr Odong, disclosed that young girls in the area say they fear getting pregnant more than contracting HIV/Aids.

“The most traumatising statement is when you hear the girls saying they fear pregnancy rather than contracting HIV/Aids. They say when you get pregnant you are likely to be disrupted from the normal trend of life for about nine months. But with the contraction of the disease (HIV), you will have it and keep quiet and continue with your other activities. And that is so alarming,” he said.

The other contributing factor to new HIV infections in Gulu City is the low literacy rate. Gulu City Health Officer Daniel Okello said the area has an HIV prevalence rate of 8.8 percent higher than that of the northern region, which is 7.6 percent and the national rate of 5.1 percent.

The Gulu City HIV/Aids focal point person, Ms Florence Oyella, underlined several challenges in managing the disease, including stock out of drugs, low retention of ART, poor disclosure, and stigma.

Mr Harrison Bisaso, a clinician at the TASO office in Jinja, said they register at least 12 new HIV infections every month, most of which are among people between the ages of 25 and 45. He said most infections are registered by people who work in and frequent bars and nightclubs.

“There is an increase in infections, but most of them are recent (less than a year), the new infections for more than a year are from communities where there is low health service coverage. Testing and health-seeking habits, too, are very low in those areas,” Mr Bisaso said at the weekend.

Mr Bisaso added that most people have unprotected sex with new partners before testing for HIV/Aids and also don’t embrace pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

He added that some young people lack information on how the virus is transmitted and prevented, while adults have also taken advantage of the desperate unemployed youth.

In Jinja City, the HIV/Aids infection rate is higher among women, according to authorities.

The city HIV/Aids focal person, Mr Saidi Kalume, said Mafubira, and Bugembe wards in Jinja North Division, and Walukuba Ward in Jinja South Division have recorded the highest number of cases.

“What I can say is there is higher HIV/Aids infection among women; but according to the Uganda Aids Commission report, women are at 7.2 percent, while men are at 5.6 percent; I need time to collect that information from the staff at the health centres,” Mr Kalume added.

Elsewhere in Busoga Sub-region, the Namayingo Assistant District Health Officer, Mr Mathias Mangeni, said the HIV/Aids prevalence is “constant”.

Mr Mangeni, who declined to mention the HIV/Aids prevalence rate, said to ensure effectiveness in the control and spread of HIV/Aids, if one tests positive, medical workers should make it a point to trace all the people this person has had sex with.

Without divulging current statistics, Mr Mangeni revealed that Lolwe Sub-county tops the list of HIV infections while the youths are the most affected groups.

West Nile

In Arua City, the statistics of 2022/23 financial year indicate that the HIV/Aids prevalence is at 3.8 percent, and that about 9,400 people are living with the disease.

By December last year, there were 242 new infections, with the HIV/Aids prevalence being attributed to the high number of illegal charcoal trade, and refugee presence in Adjumani District.

Statistics obtained from the Adjumani District Health Department in the 2022/2023 financial year indicate that there were 110 new HIV infections, with the majority of them coming from Itirikwa, Dzaipi and Pakele sub-counties, all of which host refugees.

The district HIV/Aids focal person, Mr Dolorence Inyani, said: “Of the 3,000 people living positively, we have managed to enroll 2,500 on antiretroviral therapy (ART); and last year, the district lost 12 persons to HIV.”

In the rural areas, the scourge remains a worry, according to the district laboratory focal person for East Adjumani, Mr Martin Koma.

He states that Mungula Health Centre alone recorded 10 percent of new cases compared to Adjumani General Hospital which accounts for only 3 percent of new infections.

“We attribute this (prevalence) to charcoal burning activities and the mobile refugees since Mungula serves the population from the said sub-counties,” Mr Koma said.

The spreaders

According to Mr Koma, as an intervention strategy, they have mapped the areas where charcoal business is taking place and the settlements that have mobile refugees as their hotspots for evidence-based programming.

In Yumbe District, the HIV/Aids focal person, Mr Mansour Abassi, says the situation regarding HIV infections has shown some “worrying trends”, adding that the prevalence rate is around 1.1 percent, quoting the Unaids report for 2020, which is lower than the national average of 6.5 percent.

In Moyo, the HIV/Aids prevalence rate is estimated at about 2.3 percent, according to the district focal person, Mr Robert Mawadri.

He said out of every 100 people, three have HIV/Aids.

He added: “On average, we are registering at least 23 new HIV/Aids infections quarterly, with more (infections) being among females of reproductive ages in urban centres and fishing areas of River Nile.”

Reported by Philip Wafula, Abubaker Kirunda, Tausi Nakato, Denis Edema, Felix Warom Okello, Clement Aluma, Marko Taibot, Robert Elema, Emmy Daniel Ojara and Scovin Iceta