Let us intensify Aids fight - minister

By Eddie Ssejjoba
                             
KAMPALA - The minister for health, Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye has called upon different players in the supply of HIV/Aids drugs and commodities to intensify collaboration and remove all roadblocks that can prevent patients from attaining retention and adherence and avoid shortages in the supply chain system.

He said his ministry was working hard to ensure Uganda achieved the global 90-90-90 target by 2020 as set by United Nations Program on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS). 

The 90-90-90 global target refers to ensuring that 90% of all people living with HIV know their status, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy have viral suppression by the year 2020.

"We need all players to collaborate and work towards removing all the barriers to attaining retention and adherence and ensure everyone one accesses the services.


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Participants attending the partners' forum for treatment and supply of HIV/Aids drugs to patients at Hotel Africana(Credit: Eddie Ssejjoba)


Dr. Tumwesigye was speaking to Procurement and Supply Chain Strengthening Project (PSSP) partners' forum that was organized by Medical Access Uganda Limited (MAUL) at Hotel Africana.

The annual forum, funded by the United States Centres for Disease Control (CDC) was run under the theme; "Scaling Supply Chain Systems towards 90-90-90 Target".

It attracted over 200 health professionals from CDC and implementing partners from mainly private health facilities that treat and supply HIV/Aids drugs and other commodities to Aids patients.

The minister said the government's goal was to ensure zero new infections, zero HIV/Aids related mortality and morbidity and zero discrimination through removing roadblocks to achieving the targeted goals.

According to the minister, patients walk long distances to get ARVs, and asked suppliers to try to make shorten the distances by taking the services nearer to homes.

He warned health workers to stop being rude and avoid discriminating patients, which he said discourages them from turning up for these

The minister said the ministry would introduce the National Identification System into the treatment of HIV/Aids patients by using the IDs to capture data from all their patients and be able to monitor them.

He said they mainly target mobile communities like fishing folks, truck drivers, prostitutes and other mobile workers.


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The minister of health, Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye and the US Centres for disease Control and Prevention Uganda, Steve Wiersma at the partners' forum at Hotel Africana. (Credit: Eddie Ssejjoba)


"Using the ID system, we shall be able to capture all information in our data, it will also help patients to use their national IDs to get services from any recognized health centre without necessarily going back to their original centres," he said.
 The CDC country director, Steve Wiersma said funding for Medical Access since 2011 increased from 7.6mUSD in the first year to 46mUSD in the second year of implementation of the project, serving 18 facilities and 38,000 patients.

He said the current budget stands at 51mUSD, serving 195 facilities across 63 districts supporting 237,000 patients.

"This support is expected to reach 60mUSD in the next year and number of patients projected to increase to 280, 000," he said.

 Sowedi Muyingo, the Executive director MAUL said the PSSP goal is to support procurement and logistics management of HIV/Aids related commodities to all supported health facilities and to further strengthen facility capacity to manage HIV/Aids-related commodity logistics.

The implementing partners include Baylor College of Medicines Paediatrics Aids Foundation, Children's Aids Fund Uganda, Infectious Diseases Institute; Makerere-Mbarara Joint aids Program, Medical Research Council, Mildmay Uganda, Rakai Health Sciences Program, Reach-Out Mbuya, The Aids Support Organization, Uganda Episcopal Conference and Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau.

 They supply HIV/Aids related commodities that include Opportunistic Infection Drugs, laboratory equipment and reagents, safe male circumcision kits, consumables, medical sundries/commodities and other products deemed essential for all CDC-funded HIV/aids programs throughout Uganda.