The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) has appealed to the media to advocate for increased funding from the Parliament for the Commission to respond to the requirements of the HIV/AIDS response in Uganda.

The appeal has been made by the director Planning and Strategic Information at UAC, Dr. Vincent Bagambe while addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala saying that as a Commission they need Shs 1 trillion to be able to spread information across the country but unfortunately they are only allocated Shs 200 billion.

He says donors used to support their works but since they changed their priorities, they drastically reduced their funding related to AIDS and it is high time the Ugandan Government increases funds it invests in the fight against the scourge.

According to the 2023 statistics, currently 1.49m Ugandans are living with HIV/AIDS and out of these, 1.35m are on treatment.

The UNAIDS Country Director Jacqueline Makokha appealed to the Government to address the rising levels of HIV new infections, address gaps in treatment, increase awareness and all these require the Government to increase domestic funding in order to end HIV.

She explains that globally 31m people are living with HIV and to reduce HIV/AIDS spread, UNAIDS globally encourages Governments to uphold the right of women and girls and fight gender based violence since it’s among the major causes of HIV, preventing denials for sexual education that puts adolescents at risk.

The UAC Board Chairperson, Dr. Ruth Ssenyonyi explained that there is need for financial sustainability since taking care of just one person affected by HIV requires 700,000 shillings.

They disclosed all this ahead of the World AIDS Day commemoration slated for December 1st 2024 at Bukungu Primary School in Bukungu Town Council, Buyende district under the theme; “Accelerating interventions to end HIV/AIDS as a public threat by 2030”.

By Olivia Nabaggala

20 Nov 2024

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