Uganda continues to face a significant HIV burden. According to the 2025 Uganda HIV and AIDS Factsheet, an estimated 1,527,238 people were living with HIV in 2024, including 930,000 women and 570,000 men. In the same year, 37,000 people became newly infected, while 20,000 lives were lost to AIDS-related illnesses.
This urgency is echoed in the 2025 National HIV Estimates Report, highlighted by New Vision on October 30, 2025. The report notes that four Ugandans are infected with HIV every hour, adding up to 711 new infections each week. These figures remind us how important it is to strengthen prevention, expand access to testing, and reach communities that remain underserved.
As the world prepares to mark World AIDS Day on December 1, we are stepping forward with renewed intention. With support from TASO and Ark Wellness Hub, we have launched a weekly HIV testing initiative specifically reaching communities where marginalized groups, including sex workers, live and work. Many sex workers continue to face stigma in formal health facilities, a quiet barrier that delays essential testing and care. So instead of waiting for people to come to us, we carry services directly to their doorsteps.
Our medical and project teams provide confidential HIV testing, counselling, PrEP information and initiation, distribution of condoms and lubricants, and immediate linkage to care for anyone who tests positive. These engagements create space for open, judgment-free conversations about health, prevention, and treatment.
Every person who tests positive is promptly connected to TASO and Ark Wellness Hub for comprehensive care, treatment initiation, and follow-up support, ensuring no one is left behind after diagnosis.
This year’s national theme, “Building a Sustainable HIV Response to End AIDS as a Public Health Threat,” reinforces the importance of approaches that centre people, trust, and consistency. Sustainable progress is rooted in community-level engagement in fising communities, informal settlements, busy streets, and every place where daily life happens.
We step into these communities with purpose and empathy, committed to ensuring that no one is left behind in the journey toward an AIDS-free Uganda.
