Cuba to share research on HIV/AIDs with Uganda

Cuba and Uganda have agreed to share knowledge on fighting HIV/AIDs in a bid to contain the pandemic, New Vision has learnt.

While touring Cipla Quality Chemicals Ltd in Luzira on Thursday, Cuban Vice-President, Salvado Valdes Mesa said his country would accept to collaborate with Uganda's experts on HIV/AIDs.

The executive chairman of Cipla Quality Chemicals, Emanuel Katongole told Salvado that they were also ready to advise Cuba on how to use local solutions to fight HIV/Aids.  

The meeting between the two also rekindled the old memories after Kantongole commended Cuba for exposing the danger of HIV/AIDs among Ugandan soldiers in the 1980s.

"Those days when HIV/AIDs was still a big problem, Uganda sent soldiers to Cuba for training and some who tested positive were sent back," Katongole said.

He noted that after sending the soldiers back in 1980s, Cuba advised Uganda on the way forward and that since then the country has never looked back.

"Based on the advice Cuba gave us, we have been on the top of the efforts to fight HIV/AIDs on the globe," Katongole said.

After the Cuban incident in 1980s, Uganda launched a vigorous campaign against HIV/AIDs. The country then reduced her HIV/AIDs prevalence rate from over 30% to 6.1%.

The reduction in the prevalence of HIV/AIDs made President Yoweri Museveni a darling of the West. Museveni, who promoted abstinence from sex before marriage, received accolades for his role.

Salvado has been on a two day visit to Uganda to revamp the relationship between the two countries.

Katongole noted that establishing Quality Chemicals to manufacture ARVs was a strategy Uganda adopted to fight HIV/AIDs after the Cuban incident.  

He told Salvado that the construction of the $52m (sh177b) Quality Chemical Plant that manufactures both ARVs and anti-malarias started in 2005 to 2007.

Cipla Quality Chemical Ltd manufactures 130m tablets a month, which translate into 1.6b tablets a year valued at $60m.