*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated. 1991.01.10 : AIDS Program in Uganda Contact: Jerry Lipson 202-647-4274 John Gibbons 202-245-6343 January 10, 1991 HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., and USAID Administrator Dr. Ronald Roskens today announced $14 million in health grants to help Uganda combat AIDS and support child survival programs. Sullivan and Roskens are heading a 17-day Presidential mission to Africa to assess AIDS and child survival programs there. Uganda is one of eight nations they are visiting. The grants include $12 million to assist AIDS orphans, provide for AIDS counseling and training, expand testing programs and support a newly established AIDs Secretariat. The grant to the Experiment in International Living, which was signed by Dr. Roskens and Ugandan officials, is the largest bilateral grant the United States has provided thus far for AIDS prevention and control. A second grant of $2 million to UNICEF will support training for control of dehydration from diarrheal diseases, which is the single greatest cause of child deaths in Uganda. The grant also will support information and education activities as well as the purchase of raw materials for production of oral rehydration salts (ORS) used to combat dehydration caused by diarrheal disease. The salts will be produced by a private company in Uganda, Medipharm Industries (EA) Ltd., utilizing facilities and technical assistance also provided by USAID. The new facility, which was inaugurated on Wednesday by President Musaveni of Uganda, will begin producing ORS this month. Initial production will be at the rate of three million packets a year. ###