Lack of $600m for HIV/AIDS worries experts
Dec 17, 2006
AN estimated $600m (sh1trillion) is required for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Uganda over the next five years.
By Carol Natukunda
AN estimated $600m (sh1trillion) is required for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Uganda over the next five years.
However, experts are worried over the source of funding.
“The estimate of resources required is quite large. It may not be possible to attain this level of support. In the area of care and treatment, there might be some savings if the cost of ARV drugs decline.
So only a slower pace of scaling up ART coverage to reach the target of by 90% is likely to reduce the resources needed,†John Stover, a consultant, told an annual joint review conference by the Uganda AIDS Commission on Wednesday.
He also suggested that resources required for support to orphans and vulnerable children could be reduced by a slower scaling up to universal coverage.
Stover added that less expensive approaches to supporting families with orphans could also reduce the cost.
He, however, observed that prevention and treatment could not be prioritised against the other, saying they were interlinked.
Statistics show that, 26% of resources are needed for prevention, 34% for care and treatment, 32% for support for orphans and 9% for programme support over the next five years.
AN estimated $600m (sh1trillion) is required for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Uganda over the next five years.
However, experts are worried over the source of funding.
“The estimate of resources required is quite large. It may not be possible to attain this level of support. In the area of care and treatment, there might be some savings if the cost of ARV drugs decline.
So only a slower pace of scaling up ART coverage to reach the target of by 90% is likely to reduce the resources needed,†John Stover, a consultant, told an annual joint review conference by the Uganda AIDS Commission on Wednesday.
He also suggested that resources required for support to orphans and vulnerable children could be reduced by a slower scaling up to universal coverage.
Stover added that less expensive approaches to supporting families with orphans could also reduce the cost.
He, however, observed that prevention and treatment could not be prioritised against the other, saying they were interlinked.
Statistics show that, 26% of resources are needed for prevention, 34% for care and treatment, 32% for support for orphans and 9% for programme support over the next five years.