Buwenge Town Council has recorded the highest number of new HIV-positive cases in Jinja District, accounting for 28 percent of the 442 people who tested positive during the 2025/2026 financial year.
The district HIV focal person, Ms Suzan Naguya, said 127 people tested positive in Buwenge, making it the lower local government with the highest number of new cases among the district’s seven administrative units.
Kakira Town Council followed with 22 percent, while Kagoma Town Council accounted for 21 percent.
Busedde Sub-county recorded 12 percent. Buyengo and Namagera town councils accounted for 5.8 percent and 5.6 percent respectively, while Butagaya Sub-county recorded the lowest number.
Ms Naguya attributed the higher numbers in urban centres to population movement and social activities that increase exposure to HIV.
‘When you look at the areas with the highest numbers, they are all urban centres with bars and lodges that attract many people,’ she said.
She added that such centres attract different categories of people, including sex workers, increasing the need for targeted HIV prevention and testing interventions.
Renewed optimism
Despite the figures recorded in some areas, Ms Naguya said HIV prevalence in Jinja District had declined from 3.7 percent to 3.4 percent, below the national prevalence of 4.7 percent.
She urged residents and the general public to undertake regular HIV testing, remain faithful to their partners and practise abstinence as part of efforts to prevent further transmission.
Health interventions
The HIV figures emerged as the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) conducted a three-day medical camp at Mpumudde Primary School in Jinja City, which ended last Friday.
Dr Protazio Sande, IRA chief executive officer, said the authority organised the medical camp after recognising the need to improve health outcomes in Eastern Uganda.
‘I am very happy to be welcomed to Jinja, one of the districts in eastern Uganda whose health indicators are not among the best in the country. I believe this was one of the factors considered in organising the health camp to contribute to better health outcomes,’ he said.
Dr Sande said although the authority’s primary responsibility was regulating the insurance industry, it also undertakes corporate social responsibility programmes to improve community welfare.
He said good health was essential for productive lives and that taking medical services closer to communities would improve access, particularly for people who struggle to reach health facilities.
He urged residents to take advantage of free medical camps whenever they are organised, noting that health challenges, including shortages of medicines, continue to affect communities.
Meanwhile, the Jinja City Secretary for Health, Ms Irene Nakato Wakabi, raised concern over an increase in mental health cases, calling on the ministry of Health to strengthen the supply of medicines for affected patients.
‘The ministry of Health should increase stocks of medicines for people with mental health conditions because I have observed a rise in the number of cases in Jinja City,’ Ms Wakabi said.
The Jinja City secretary for health also identified diabetes as an emerging public health concern requiring urgent attention.
Dr Charles Wako, the officer-in-charge of Mpumudde Health Centre IV, said the facility registers at least one new patient with diabetes or hypertension daily.