Boost for people living with HIV/AIDS
Jan 17, 2006
Uganda now has more HIV-positive people than it can treat the Chief Executive Officer of pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Hank McKinnell has said.
By Gideon Munaabi
Uganda now has more HIV-positive people than it can treat the Chief Executive Officer of pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Hank McKinnell has said.
McKinnell said during the opening of an HIV/AIDS clinic in Mbarara that according to a successful HIV testing campaign, about 1.2 million of Uganda’s 26 million people are HIV-positive. He says healthcare workers also say that more than 100,000 people need antiretroviral drugs, but most cannot afford them.
Pfizer provided half of the US $700,000 (about sh1.3bn) needed to fund the clinic, which plans to treat 1,000 local patients with antiretrovirals. The centre, which will be operated by The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), is expected to play an important role in serving part of the organisation’s 50,000 registered HIV/AIDS patients.
The new TASO centre is the second of four TASO regional facilities to be upgraded. In addition to scaling up ARV therapy to 1000 patients in Mbarara, the centre also hosts a CD4 count laboratory that supports clients from two other centres in the region.
McKinnell said that his organisation’s first joint effort with TASO in constructing a new counselling and training service facility in Kampala-was a remarkable success.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Dr. Alex Coutinho, Executive Director of TASO, said that Pfizer had once again expanded TASO’s ability to provide care and support for people living with and affected by AIDS.
Ends
Uganda now has more HIV-positive people than it can treat the Chief Executive Officer of pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Hank McKinnell has said.
McKinnell said during the opening of an HIV/AIDS clinic in Mbarara that according to a successful HIV testing campaign, about 1.2 million of Uganda’s 26 million people are HIV-positive. He says healthcare workers also say that more than 100,000 people need antiretroviral drugs, but most cannot afford them.
Pfizer provided half of the US $700,000 (about sh1.3bn) needed to fund the clinic, which plans to treat 1,000 local patients with antiretrovirals. The centre, which will be operated by The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), is expected to play an important role in serving part of the organisation’s 50,000 registered HIV/AIDS patients.
The new TASO centre is the second of four TASO regional facilities to be upgraded. In addition to scaling up ARV therapy to 1000 patients in Mbarara, the centre also hosts a CD4 count laboratory that supports clients from two other centres in the region.
McKinnell said that his organisation’s first joint effort with TASO in constructing a new counselling and training service facility in Kampala-was a remarkable success.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Dr. Alex Coutinho, Executive Director of TASO, said that Pfizer had once again expanded TASO’s ability to provide care and support for people living with and affected by AIDS.
Ends