Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) working for the increased access to essential health services in Uganda have decried the scarcity of HIV/AIDS drugs.
In a press briefing by Margaret Happy of the International Community of Women living with HIV/ AIDS, the CSO’s claim that the Ministry of Health has instructed District Health Officials to supply people with HIV with only two weeks supplies of medicines. The allege that the country had formally endorsed 3-6 months’ refills in 2016.
They accuse government of failure to priorities important things. For instance, they mention that while government says there is no money to cater for HIV/AIDS drugs, the same government has dished out sacks of cash to cater for age limit consultations.
“While HIV treatment stock outs caused by insufficient funding are undermining the AIDs response and triggering a massive risk of treatment failure, Members of parliament have been given Shs 13b to facilitate consultations on the proposed amendment to the consultation to remove age limit for the president. The key question is; “What is the urgency and priority of some of the choices our government makes?” Ms Margaret Happy said
David Kawooya, a youth living with HIV says: “we are dying, we need help we don’t have medicine. Some of us are in reproductive age, we are bound to give birth to positive babies because we are not taking drugs.”
About 1.3million people in Uganda are living with HIV/Aid. However, drugs like; Atanazavir, Lopinavir, Nevirapine, Lamivudine among others, have been out of stock since June.
Should the situation remain the same, people living with the infection run a risk of developing resistance to the drugs and likely death.
