By Fred Muzaale.
At least 20,000 people died of Aids related illnesses in Uganda last year, indicating a decline in deaths resulting from the scourge from 110,000 people in 2016.
This has been revealed by the Director General Uganda Aids Commission, Dr Nelson Musoba.
Addressing a news conference about the “I know Kati 2018” HIV/Aids campaign, DrMusoba noted that despite the seemingly big number of deaths from Aids related illnesses, Uganda has made tremendous strides in reducing the number of deaths and new HIV infections.
He attributes the reduction in deaths and new infectionsto a new approach which requires people who test HIV positive to start treatment immediately unlike in the past, when treatment was only for those whose CD4 count was very low.
CD4 are the cells that the HIV virus kills.
As HIV infection progresses, the number of these cells declines.
When the CD4 count drops below 200, a person is diagnosed with AIDS.
A normal range for CD4 count is between 500-1,500.
