The Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr Nelson Musoba has revealed that the organisation is underfunded as they continue with the fight against the HIV/AIDS.
Appearing before the Parliament Committee on HIV/AIDS on Tuesday, 18 February 2020, Musoba said that over 70 per cent of the commission budget is funded by donors.
“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.
In the face of a spirited fight against the prevalence of HIV-AIDS with the country achieving an unrivalled high reduction of new HIV infections by 40 per cent, the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) has told MPs that Uganda is still among the top 10 countries in Africa with a high HIV burden.
According to Dr Musoba, 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 of the challenges, the country has achieved an unrivalled 40 per cent 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, 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 hotbed 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.
