USAID donates sh85b for HIV/AIDS
May 06, 2005
THE AIDS support organisation (TASO) has received a US$50m (about sh85b) donation from the United states agency for international development (USAID) to treat people living with HIV/AIDS for the next three years.
By Ebenezer Bifubyeka
THE AIDS support organisation (TASO) has received a US$50m (about sh85b) donation from the United states agency for international development (USAID) to treat people living with HIV/AIDS for the next three years.
The anti-retroviral therapy programme and STD/AIDS control programme officer in the ministry of health, Elizabeth Namagala, said about 60,000 people with HIV/AIDS will be accessing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) by the end of 2005.
Namagala was on Monday presenting the policy and work plan for the ministry of health during a workshop on comprehensive HIV/AIDS care at Lake View regency hotel, Mbarara.
The workshop was attended by 110 participants from Mbarara, Ntungamo and Bushenyi districts. The medical superintendent of Mbarara university teaching hospital, Placid Mihayo, asked the ministry to stop programmes that force people to disclose their HIV status, saying the practice violated their rights.
“This policy of ‘forcing’ the HIV patients to disclose their sero-status is donor-driven and it’s not good,†he said.
Mihayo said the health ministry should address the problem of shortage of counsellors at Mbarara Hospital.
The senior consultant for paediatrics and medical superintendent at Masaka hospital, Dr. Kenya Mugisha said people should know that they can infect others even while they are on ARVs.
“Just like openness has reduced stigma, we need to tell the public that prevention is more important than treatment,†Mugisha said.
Ends
THE AIDS support organisation (TASO) has received a US$50m (about sh85b) donation from the United states agency for international development (USAID) to treat people living with HIV/AIDS for the next three years.
The anti-retroviral therapy programme and STD/AIDS control programme officer in the ministry of health, Elizabeth Namagala, said about 60,000 people with HIV/AIDS will be accessing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) by the end of 2005.
Namagala was on Monday presenting the policy and work plan for the ministry of health during a workshop on comprehensive HIV/AIDS care at Lake View regency hotel, Mbarara.
The workshop was attended by 110 participants from Mbarara, Ntungamo and Bushenyi districts. The medical superintendent of Mbarara university teaching hospital, Placid Mihayo, asked the ministry to stop programmes that force people to disclose their HIV status, saying the practice violated their rights.
“This policy of ‘forcing’ the HIV patients to disclose their sero-status is donor-driven and it’s not good,†he said.
Mihayo said the health ministry should address the problem of shortage of counsellors at Mbarara Hospital.
The senior consultant for paediatrics and medical superintendent at Masaka hospital, Dr. Kenya Mugisha said people should know that they can infect others even while they are on ARVs.
“Just like openness has reduced stigma, we need to tell the public that prevention is more important than treatment,†Mugisha said.
Ends