UGANDA HIGHEST IN ARV ADHERENCE

The rate of patients who adhere to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy is higher in Uganda than in any other country in the world, according to Peter Reis, vice president of the U.S.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Speaking at a function sponsored by the nonprofit Uganda Cares, Reis noted that almost 64,000 Ugandans were currently taking ARV treatment -- a higher adherence rate than that of HIV/AIDS patients in the U.S. and Europe.

Reis praised this statistic, commenting that "Uganda took the lead" in proper ARV usage. He urged, however, that HIV/AIDS patients work to teach disease-prevention tactics in their communities. Approximately 144,000 Ugandans still require access to ARVs, he said, and only 63,896 are currently receiving the drugs.

Over two million Ugandans are infected with the HIV virus, which has killed some 900,000 people in the country since 1984. The AHF, headquartered in Los Angeles, is the largest supplier of ARV treatments in the U.S., supplying the drugs to several African countries.