Kiyonga Defends Govt On AIDS

By Charles Wendo in BarcelonaTHE National Political Commissar, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, has said the Government does not have enough resources to treat all AIDS patients with antiretroviral drugs.Kiyonga, who is attending the 14th International AIDS Conference, told The New Vision that the Government would continue preparing health facilities for treatment and negotiating for lower prices, but could not yet afford free treatment for everybody.He was responding to an assertion by an activist, Milly Katana, that the Government could afford free treatment for all AIDS patients if it considered this a priority. She wanted the Government to treat all AIDS patients in Uganda.But Kiyonga said, “For only 1,000 people you are talking about $2.4m (sh4.7b) a year. It is just too expensive.”He said because the Government had set the right climate out of the 30,000 people on antiretroviral treatment in Africa 10,000 are in Uganda.Meanwhile, Uganda has answered queries raised by the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis on her grant application. Kiyonga, who chairs the fund, said consequently, the money would be released any time.“They don’t even need to come to the board again. They had simple questions which they answered. Any time, we should start negotiating with them on the disbursement,” he said. Ends