US Health Secretary Tours Uganda
Dec 14, 2002
Uganda needs US$50m (about sh90b) annually to fight AIDS but the Government and donors provide only half of this, the Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro-Apuuli, has said.
BY Charles Wendo
Uganda needs US$50m (about sh90b) annually to fight AIDS but the Government and donors provide only half of this, the Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro-Apuuli, has said.
Kihumuro-Apuuli said if the Government is to provide anti-retroviral drugs to AIDS patients, it will require at least $20m (sh36b) in addition annually.
“We are only getting 50% of the total requirement. We hope when the global fund comes, we shall add an additional 25 to 30 per cent,†he said.
Kihumuro-Apuuli was on Thursday speaking at the Ministry of Health headquarters during a meeting between health minister Jim Muhwezi and a United States delegation led by the assistant secretary for health, Claude Allen.
The US delegation was due to meet First Lady Janet Museveni last night. They also visited Gayaza High School, The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) and the Joint Clinical Research Centre.
Allen praised Uganda for being “at the forefront of battling HIV/AIDS†and pledged friendship and partnership with Uganda in the fight. He said the US would aid countries that make progress in democratisation.
Muhwezi said the conditions were easier to fulfill than those of the World Bank and the IMF. He said Uganda would continue to promote abstinence, faithfulness and condoms since they are complimentary to one another.
Ends
Uganda needs US$50m (about sh90b) annually to fight AIDS but the Government and donors provide only half of this, the Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr. David Kihumuro-Apuuli, has said.
Kihumuro-Apuuli said if the Government is to provide anti-retroviral drugs to AIDS patients, it will require at least $20m (sh36b) in addition annually.
“We are only getting 50% of the total requirement. We hope when the global fund comes, we shall add an additional 25 to 30 per cent,†he said.
Kihumuro-Apuuli was on Thursday speaking at the Ministry of Health headquarters during a meeting between health minister Jim Muhwezi and a United States delegation led by the assistant secretary for health, Claude Allen.
The US delegation was due to meet First Lady Janet Museveni last night. They also visited Gayaza High School, The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) and the Joint Clinical Research Centre.
Allen praised Uganda for being “at the forefront of battling HIV/AIDS†and pledged friendship and partnership with Uganda in the fight. He said the US would aid countries that make progress in democratisation.
Muhwezi said the conditions were easier to fulfill than those of the World Bank and the IMF. He said Uganda would continue to promote abstinence, faithfulness and condoms since they are complimentary to one another.
Ends