Museveni writes to Annan on HIV
May 21, 2006
PRESIDENT Museveni has requested UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to put the HIV/AIDS pandemic high on the agenda in the forthcoming UN General Assembly scheduled for June in New York, USA.
By Dismus Buregyeya
PRESIDENT Museveni has requested UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to put the HIV/AIDS pandemic high on the agenda in the forthcoming UN General Assembly scheduled for June in New York, USA.
The Uganda Aids Commission chief, Dr. Kihumuro Appuli, said President Museveni wanted the G8 states to give priority to the fight against the pandemic at the convention.
In a statement, Kihumuro said the recent AU summit in Abuja resolved to scale up the fight against T.B, malaria and other related HIV/AIDS opportunistic diseases.
“We have taken it seriously to address the prevention and treatment programmes on HIV/AIDS as a global concern because results do not show that we are succeeding,†he said.
Kihumuro said the strategy that will give a final blow to HIV/AIDS is identifying an effective vaccine, adding that the struggle to get a vaccine was still under-funded.
He said the nation needs $1.2m to facilitate the HIV/AIDS vaccine discovery. He said the nation operates on a budget of $650m, which is 50% of the required funds.
He said the HIV/AIDS new infections are hitting hard on Africa and regretted that 10 people get infected with HIV per minute.
Kihumuro said the AIDS pandemic was spilling over to the children, adding that out of the 100,000 infections recorded last year, 30,000 were children.
He said Kampala was leading among the high infection areas in the country.
The Prensa Latina news agency, in a screaming headline “AIDS invades Ugandaâ€, reported yesterday that the nation was thrown into panic after a report said on Friday that more than 130,000 people were infected with HIV and that number could increase in geometric progression.
It quoted Kihumuro as saying that despite international aid donated for years, the number of those infected continued to rise alarmingly. Data by the UAC shows that 70,000 people were infected with the HIV virus in 2003, and that number had doubled in two years.
There was a march in Kampala on Thursday to recognise volunteers, scientists and health professionals from all over the world, who are searching for an HIV vaccine.
PRESIDENT Museveni has requested UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to put the HIV/AIDS pandemic high on the agenda in the forthcoming UN General Assembly scheduled for June in New York, USA.
The Uganda Aids Commission chief, Dr. Kihumuro Appuli, said President Museveni wanted the G8 states to give priority to the fight against the pandemic at the convention.
In a statement, Kihumuro said the recent AU summit in Abuja resolved to scale up the fight against T.B, malaria and other related HIV/AIDS opportunistic diseases.
“We have taken it seriously to address the prevention and treatment programmes on HIV/AIDS as a global concern because results do not show that we are succeeding,†he said.
Kihumuro said the strategy that will give a final blow to HIV/AIDS is identifying an effective vaccine, adding that the struggle to get a vaccine was still under-funded.
He said the nation needs $1.2m to facilitate the HIV/AIDS vaccine discovery. He said the nation operates on a budget of $650m, which is 50% of the required funds.
He said the HIV/AIDS new infections are hitting hard on Africa and regretted that 10 people get infected with HIV per minute.
Kihumuro said the AIDS pandemic was spilling over to the children, adding that out of the 100,000 infections recorded last year, 30,000 were children.
He said Kampala was leading among the high infection areas in the country.
The Prensa Latina news agency, in a screaming headline “AIDS invades Ugandaâ€, reported yesterday that the nation was thrown into panic after a report said on Friday that more than 130,000 people were infected with HIV and that number could increase in geometric progression.
It quoted Kihumuro as saying that despite international aid donated for years, the number of those infected continued to rise alarmingly. Data by the UAC shows that 70,000 people were infected with the HIV virus in 2003, and that number had doubled in two years.
There was a march in Kampala on Thursday to recognise volunteers, scientists and health professionals from all over the world, who are searching for an HIV vaccine.