Just a few years ago the situation seemed a disaster too complete to admit hope. This reduction has not come easily, and the battle has been fought on every front. In Uganda, TV is a luxury for the elite, and newspapers are a privilege. Western science's floundering search for an effective treatment has been a supreme irrelevance. In Uganda there are 10,000 people for every doctor, and health facilities are under-equipped, understaffed and underfunded.
Traditional healers fill the void left by conventional medicine.
In rural or poor areas it's not a doctor that's called in to diagnose and treat, but anyone who isn't too busy growing food. Using techniques handed down through the generations, traditional healers treat the diseases they are familiar with. Some specialise in bone-setting while others tackle other serious ailments such as poverty, demons or worms. Diagnosis can be made by asking or probing, or by throwing cowrie shells, coins, or flipping chicken entrails. Taken by surprise Click here for ' Reported HIV Cases ' graph.