By Francis Kagolo

A total of 72,000 more Ugandans living with HIV/AIDS are to receive free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, courtesy of the United States government.

This will bring the number of beneficiaries of free ARVs to 290,900, up from 218,900.

Almost half of the ARVs in the country are donated by the US through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) project.

US ambassador Jerry Lanier made the disclosure at a joint press conference with health minister Stephen Mallinga at the National Medical Stores (NMS) in Entebbe yesterday.

He said 36,000 new beneficiaries will be registered this year, while the other half will come on board in 2011.

“By 2012, the US government will directly support more than 250,000 Ugandans on ARVs,” Lanier disclosed.

It is estimated that the increase in the number of ARVs beneficiaries will boost US’ annual HIV funding to $460m (about sh1.1trillion), up from $280m.

Meanwhile, the US yesterday delivered the first batch of anti-malarials and ARVs worth $7m (about sh15b) as an emergency consignment to cover the current shortage.

Lanier explained that the drugs would be delivered to NMS, which will then distribute them to clinics and hospitals.

There has been an unprecedented delay in receiving ARVs from the Global Fund, which created the current shortfall.
The emergency supplies from the US are expected to take the country up to December when the Global Fund supplies arrive.

“These funds will accelerate our partnership with the Government of Uganda in responding to the HIV epidemic,” said the ambassador. “We will also continue to identify new funding streams for Uganda from bilateral and multilateral donors.”

Mallinga lauded the US government for funding over 90% of Uganda’s HIV programmes. He revealed that over seven million Ugandans had accessed HIV testing and counselling services, thanks to the funds.

The national HIV prevalence rate currently stands at 6.4%. However, due to the high number of new infections each year, the demand for ARVs has been outpacing supply.

Today, over 442,000 people need ARVs, but only 218,900 receive them, according to the Uganda Aids Commission. This means that more than half of those in need could not be reached due to inadequate supplies.