HIV/AIDS women inUgandaget married to multiple partners without condoms in order to ease their libido, latest research findings reveal.
Research findings indicate that over 60% of women inUgandahave multiple sex partners, and three thirds of them do not use condoms during sexual engagements. In Hoima district, about 90% of the women there have multiple lovers according to the latest survey on HIV/Aids, reproductive health and sanitation.
One of the Population Officers in Uganda, Lydia Asiimwe says that the survey findings were so shocking and explains why the HIV prevalence in Ugandais higher than it was in 2005. The Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey (UAIS) report released last month indicates that Uganda’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate shot up from 6.4% in 2005 to 7.3% today. The research findings indicate that the prevalence is higher among women (8.3%) than men (6.1%).
Asiimwe says that about 50% of the women inUgandado not use condoms.Uganda’s population is projected at 34 million people with a growth rate of about 4.7 with a fertility rate of about 6.9%. On the other hand, infant mortality rate inUgandastands at 88 out of 1,000 live births and 437 women die during birth (maternal mortality rate).
The government of Uganda, according to Asiimwe, is organizing massive sensitization campaigns to educate women, saying many don’t know the risks involved in having more than one sex partner, more so when having unprotected sex.
The survey also reveals that most women inUgandaare illiterate and poor, therefore vulnerable to sex exploitation.
Research findings further indicate that most of these poor women inUgandaare the breadwinners in their families; therefore they can easily get compromised when confronted for commercial sex.
Walakira Nyanzi