Philanthropist Bill Gates, the founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, says more lives can be saved from HIV if modern HIV prevention tools can be spread out.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been one of the biggest funder to HIV/AIDS research, treatment and lately prevention methods like preventative medications known as PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, which can reduce a person’s risk of contracting the virus by up to 99 percent when taken as prescribed.

The foundation had by 2016 committed more than US$3 billion in HIV grants to organizations around the world and more than US$1.6 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.           

As the world prepares to mark World AIDS Day on 1st December 2022 Bill Gates issued a statement on Tuesday saying that if we could get these tools to everyone who needs them and make sure they’re used correctly, we could stop HIV in its tracks.

The problem is that countries like Uganda hardly provide funds in their budgets to make these prevention tools available as part of the fight against HIV.  

Activists like Lillian Mworeko, the Executive Director of International Community of Women With HIV (ICWL) says it’s better to budget and provide funds for prevention of HIV than people being infected and requiring treatment for life.  

Research on some of the available PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, that can reduce a person’s risk of contracting the virus by up to 99 percent when taken as prescribed were conducted in Uganda with the participation of Ugandan researchers including ordinary Ugandans forming part  of the clinical trials.

By Our Reporter

27 Nov 2024

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