According to the District Development Committee (DDC) report covering the period from January 1 to March 31, 2025, presented before the full council meeting this week, only 2, 937 clients were tested for HIV, down from 3, 709 in the previous quarter. Additionally, the number of non-citizens tested also declined, with only 85 individuals tested this quarter compared to 148 previously. On a positive note, the report highlights that all health facilities in the district continue to provide HIV testing services. Moving forward, the council plans to prioritise high-risk groups for testing and conduct support visits to health facilities to strengthen service delivery. Regarding antiretroviral therapy (ART), the report states that there are currently 15, 117 active HIV-positive patients registered and receiving treatment. Moreover, 108 children aged 12 years and below are currently on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).
“The total number of patients on ART with detectable viral load (VL) is 197. The National target is 95%, while we are at 99.37% viral suppression-valid results. The target is 95%, and we are at 99.6% retention. Our achievement is that New ART guideline updates cascaded to programme implementers (nurses, midwives, HCA, HEA/SHEA, LAB, Pharmacy, Lay counsellor),” the report states. However, the report pointed out that the challenge is shortage of lab reagents, clients given shorter review dates, and multi-month drug dispensing not done due to a shortage of some ART drugs-clients refilling monthly. It also states that the way forward is to conduct district data cleaning.
