The Chairperson of the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), Dr. Ruth Senyonyi, has urged districts to revive coordination mechanisms and strengthen accountability through District AIDS Committees to improve HIV response efforts. Senyonyi attributed the failure of some District AIDS Committees to a lack of funding. She appealed the dissemination of a report compiled by UAC following an oversight field visit in the Ankole region, covering Mbarara City, Mbarara, Kiruhura, Bushenyi, Isingiro, and Rwampara districts.
During the visit, the team engaged District leaders, health workers, civil society organizations, youth, religious leaders, and communities. They also visited health facilities, including Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Rusheere Hospital, Bushenyi Health Centre IV, Kinoni Health Centre IV, Bwizibwera Health Centre IV, Nakivale Refugee Camp, TASO Centre, and JCRC Regional offices, as well as youth at Kampala International University (Bushenyi Campus), out-of-school youth, and representatives of vulnerable and key populations from Kizinda Town Council.
Dr. Senyonyi said the purpose of the visits was to review the implementation of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services; assess coordination at the district level; engage communities to understand challenges and successes; and identify policy and resource gaps that require national attention. She noted that one of the key strengths in Uganda’s HIV response is the strong relationship with local governments, but observed that some coordination structures have weakened, particularly where support from implementing partners has reduced.
“District AIDS Committees in some districts have not been meeting regularly, which affects coordination of HIV interventions,” Dr. Senyonyi said. She also urged local governments to continue mainstreaming HIV interventions and allocate 0.1% of their budgets to HIV programs to supplement government funds, following directives from the Ministry of Finance. Simon Ejua, the Deputy City Town Clerk, said that dwindling local revenue had prevented some local governments from allocating the 0.1% but promised to rectify the situation. Dorcus Tiweitu, the Mbarara City HIV Focal Person, reported that the city’s HIV prevalence stands at 10%, higher than the national prevalence of 4%.
She noted that certain hotspots, including Kijungu, Kiyanja, and Katete—areas with numerous bars—have prevalence rates as high as 50%. Dr. Nelson Musoba, Director General of UAC, explained that the 2025 data show more men are dying from HIV-related causes despite higher prevalence among women. The national HIV prevalence is 4.9%, with women at 6.4% and men at 3.4%. He attributed higher male deaths to poor health-seeking behavior and noted that social and cultural factors, including stigma, discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence, and misinformation, contribute to rising HIV prevalence in some districts in Ankole.
“Uganda has over 1,500,000 people living with HIV, including 930,000 women, 570,000 men, and 71,000 children,” Musoba said. He provided district-specific prevalence rates for Ankole: Kiruhura 11%, Mbarara City 10%, Bushenyi 8%, Mbarara District 8%, Sheema 7%, Rwampara 7%, Ibanda 6%, Rubirizi 6%, Ntungamo 6%, Mitooma 5%, Buhweju 4%, Kazo 4%, and Isingiro 4%. Dr. Musoba stressed the need for stronger stakeholder efforts to address high prevalence among women (6.4%), men (3.4%), and children (0.3%), noting that new infections in 2025 included 21,000 women and 11,000 men. URN