Renew commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention

By John F. Hoover

John F. Hoover - Chargé d'affaires US Mission

Under the umbrella of the national HIV/AIDS strategic plan, the Government, the US and other development partners have worked together over the years to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

We have made progress about which we can be most proud. But the struggle against HIV/AIDS endures, and in some ways, Uganda is losing ground. After falling dramatically in the 1990s, prevalence is now rising again.

An estimated 180,000, or 50% of Ugandans who need potentially life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, are not getting it. The number is growing each day. Many Ugandans now die from AIDS each year as they were dying at the height of the pandemic in the 1990s. This is largely due to Uganda’s high population growth rate of 3.2%.

In the context of an expanding pandemic, a truly formidable challenge going forward is resources. Even with the unprecedented level of funding provided collectively by the Government, the US, and other partners to fight HIV/AIDS, there is now a potentially tragic and growing gap between national needs and the funds available to meet them.

The result: stock-outs of HIV/AIDS medicines, and people testing positive, but not able to get treatment. These issues have been raised repeatedly in the Ugandan media in recent weeks. Reports have stated or implied that these gaps are due to decreased funding from the US. Nothing could be further from the truth. The US currently provides an extraordinary level of support to Uganda to fight HIV/AIDS. This support, funded through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history.

In Uganda, US funding alone constitutes two-thirds of the entire HIV/AIDS response. Through PEPFAR, the American people have provided over $1.2b (sh2 trillion) to combat HIV/AIDS in Uganda since 2004. In addition, America is the first and largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. PEPFAR currently supports 153,000 HIV-positive Ugandans on life-saving antiretroviral treatment.

In 2009, PEPFAR will provide services to one million pregnant women, testing them for the HIV virus and helping them prevent the infection of their newborn children. It will also provide support to over 300,000 orphans and other vulnerable children throughout Uganda.

America’s commitment will not waver, despite the budget pressures caused by the economic crisis. In 2009, we are investing $280m (sh56b) in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda, and it is the intention of the US to maintain this level of funding for the foreseeable future. To repeat: The US is not reducing its funding to fight HIV/AIDS.

Distressingly, despite this huge commitment, the resource gap will continue to widen until we collectively find ways to more effectively prevent the spread of the disease.

Current trends tell us there needs to be a renewed focus, in terms of resources and advocacy, on HIV prevention. We have all lost momentum on the prevention front, and we are paying for it in the form of the rising prevalence rates.

It is good news that the Global Fund is set to resume funding in Uganda. This will help address the resource gap. But without renewed commitment from the Government and from Ugandans to halt the spread of HIV, no amount of money from the US, or other development partners ultimately will prevail. The US and others are here to help. As President Obama said on July 11: “Africa’s future is in the hands of Africans.” Nowhere is this more true than in tackling HIV in Uganda.