Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) has said it registered 38,000 new HIV infections in 2020, which is 28 per cent lower than 53,000 infections recorded in 2019.
New HIV infections in the country had stagnated at 53,000 in 2018 and 2019, according to previous data from the UAC.
Dr Nelson Musoba, the UAC director-general, said they do not have a clear explanation for the decline but that Covid-19 prevention measures such as the lockdown, curfew and closure of bars could have played an important role.
Dr Musoba made the remarks during an event organized at the UAC headquarters in Kampala to sensitize people living with HIV about the importance of taking Covid-19 jabs.
Last year, reproductive healthcare and services providers complained that they were finding it hard to reach people with condoms which are essential in preventing sexually transmitted disease due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown.
Dr Musoba said they are shocked at the reduction in HIV infections considering the many challenges experienced due to the pandemic.
Dr Alfred Driwale, the head of immunisation programme at the Ministry of Health, said among 338 Covid-19 deaths in the country, patients who were already infected with HIV accounted for a significant number followed by those with diabetes and hypertension.
