Gov't on the spot over absence at PEPFAR meeting

Aug 20, 2015

Government is on the spot over why Uganda was the only country not represented at the regional US PEPFAR review meeting.


By Esther Namirimu

Health sector civil society organisations (CSOs) in Uganda are demanding an explanation why Uganda was the only country not represented at the regional US President' Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Country Operation Plan (COP) review meeting which took place in Namibia.

The meeting was attended by multi-lateral and bilateral agencies, CSOs and governments of all recipient countries of PEPFAR beneficiaries.

The 14 focus countries for concentrated PEPFAR resources include: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia – and later Vietnam.

Joshua Wamboga, the executive director of Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO), said the only government that was invited, confirmed participation but was not represented was Uganda’s.

“Very important decisions were made regarding funds, worth $1 billion. The purpose of the meeting was to review each Country Operation Plan (COP) 2015 and resolve outstanding issues so that the COP can be approved for funding,” he added.

Wamboga noted that non-participation of the government of Uganda in the meeting meant that Uganda does not care about its citizens. “It could mean that whether PEPFAR gives Uganda the money or not, it does not create a difference."

 “We missed the opportunity to engage with the PEPFAR Global and country team on this financing the unmet care and treatment,” he added.

According to the draft GOP, the allocation for Uganda' HIV response was $323,388,372. The projected number of People Living with HIV who will be in need of treatment in 2016 is approximately 1.3 million.

Wamboga said: “Fortunately PEP FAR has committed to ensuring that one million people access care and treatment”. However, he wondered how the government of Uganda would ensure that the additional 300,000 people, up from the current 700,000 would receive care and treatment.

“The health sector civil society coalition therefore demand an explanation from the government of Uganda, on why the country was not represented in this very important meeting."

Rachael Nandelenge of International Community of Women living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA), said that according to Uganda Investment Case 2015-2025, Uganda’s national HIV/AIDS response is heavily dependent on external support as out of the US$ 1.747bn used in the national response between 2007/08 and 2012/12, a total of US $1.565bn was contributed by international donors.

Bilateral contribution has accounted for 93% of the AIDS external funding between 2007/08 and 2011/12 while multilateral sources accounted for about 7%. 

According to the 2013 Uganda HIV and AIDS Country Progress report, GOU also funds the Uganda AIDS Commission to the tune of about $2.5 million. Therefore the government cannot raise its own resources domestically to ensure that all the people who are eligible and need treatment.

The government of the United States has through PEPFAR invested over seven trillion Ugandan shillings to fight HIV over the past decade.

In the past eleven years PEPFAR has funded more than 28 million HIV tests. In 2013 alone, PEPFAR support gave over 88,000 HIV-positive pregnant women the chance to give birth to HIV-free babies through eMTCT.

Today more than 600,000 HIV-positive Ugandans live healthy and productive lives because the people of the United States support their antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Over 50,000 Ugandan children are currently receiving lifesaving ART and, more importantly, living with the restored hope of growing into adulthood; since 2009, PEPFAR has funded circumcision for over 1.5 million Ugandan men.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also called PEPFAR or the Emergency Plan, is a five-year bilateral commitment by the United States Government to support HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs in developing countries.

Authorized to spend $15 billion in five years (fiscal years 2004-2008), PEPFAR is the largest-ever global health initiative dedicated to a single disease. PEPFAR employs a unique model of aid delivery that emphasizes concentrating resources in a few countries to rapidly scale-up proven interventions.

This approach seeks to maximize impact and reach pre-determined, program-wide targets, including providing ARV treatment to 2 million people, preventing 7 million new infections, and caring for 10 million of those infected (these are sometimes called the 2-7-10 targets).
 

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