The 2016 UPHIA was conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with ICAP at the Columbia University. It was a nationwide survey aimed at providing estimates of HIV incidence, HIV prevalence, viral load suppression, syphilis, hepatitis B infection, and other important HIV/AIDS program indicators. The assessment was conducted from August 2016 to March 2017.
Data were collected in all districts of the country from a sample of households, representative of the Ugandan population. A total of 12,483 households were surveyed and participation rates were over 95% for both interviews and blood draws.
Preliminary results indicate that the current prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 – 49 years in Uganda is 6%, lower than the previous 7.3% (The 2011 Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey). The HIV prevalence among young people 15 – 24 years was 2.1% (0.8% in men and 3.3% among women). Among children aged less than 14 years, prevalence was 0.5%. The total number of adults and children of all ages living with HIV in Uganda was estimated to be approximately 1.3 million. Adult HIV prevalence was higher among women at 7.5% versus 4.3% among men. Among adults, HIV prevalence is lowest in those 15-19 years. It is highest among men aged 45 to 49, at 14.0%.It was also higher among residents of urban areas (7.1%) versus 5.5% in rural areas. Regionally, the highest prevalence was at 7.7% in South Western region, 6.6% in Kampala and the low- est was 2.8% in West-Nile, a similar finding to the 2011 Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey.
Overall, HIV prevalence has declined across sub population groups and across the country. These declines in HIV prevalence may be attributed to decreasing number of new infections in recent years, a result of the intensified HIV prevention and treatment services in the country. This applauds the sup- port from development partners such as PEPFAR, the Global Fund and other programs and the effort of the Government of Uganda’s HIV/AIDS program. The country is steadily making progress towards the UNAIDS goal of 90:90:90