Dr Nelson Musoba, the Director-General Uganda AIDS Commission ha decried limited funding to the commission in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dr, Musoba told Parliament on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, that over 70 percent of the commission budget is funded by donors, putting Uganda among the top countries in Africa with a high HIV burden.
“Our external donors can only give us funding for our projects for a certain period of time. This affects the continuity of the projects when donor funding expires,” he said adding that the current donor funding is US$555.9 million whereas government funding for the financial year 2019/2020 is US$103 million.
He appealed to the Legislators on the Committee to support the Commission in securing more funding for its activities and projects. He added that despite the challenges, the country has achieved an unrivaled 40 percent reduction in new HIV infections. He, however, warned that Uganda remains among the top 10 countries in Africa with a high HIV Burden
The Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Florence Namboozo pledged to ask the government to increase funding for the Commission’s priorities.
She also called on the Commission to continue sensitising the public on the dangers of HIV-AIDS.
“There all sorts of festivals and cultural practices happening around the country that are a hot-bed for sexual practices; we need the AIDS Commission to talk to these people starting with Bugisu especially,” she said.
Dr. Musoba promised to fast track the sensitisation campaigns in all districts in the country especially through the district leaderships.
