Rwotoyera (L) with a colleague from UAC making their case before MP’s from COSASE
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The AIDS Trust Fund was established under the HIV and AIDs Prevention and Control Act of 2014, remains Uganda’s only hope to reign in rising infection rates amidst dwindling donor funding, officials have said.
According to Section 25 of the law, the fund was intended to provide sustainable funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment.
Members of Parliament pointed out that the fund was supposed to be financed through 2% of the total tax revenue collected from soft drinks, bottled water, waragi, beer and spirits, among others. This did not come to pass.
They have henceforth renewed calls its immediate operationalization, warning that failure to do that would lead to reversing the country’s gains in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Members on the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) interfaced with officials from the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) at Parliament on Thursday.
Quinto Rwotoyera, who stood in for the Commission’s Executive Director, Dr Nelson Musoba noted that the implementation was thwarted by provisions in the Public Finance Management Act.
He said that initially, this trust fund was supposed to be housed under the health ministry. “The finance ministry had initially asked the health ministry to appoint the board. However, the health ministry did not appoint the board, saying they wanted the money before doing so,” he pointed out, adding that later on, they learnt that the finance minister said that could not be done because the public finance Act does not allow any fund to be created and put aside.
On February 11, Dr Vincent Bagambe, the director of planning and strategic information at the Uganda AIDS Commission, informed the parliamentary health committee that an additional Shs 300 billion was needed to fill gaps left by the funding freeze imposed by US president Donald Trump during his first term in office.
Currently, the estimated number of people living with HIV is 1.492 million as of December 2023. The HIV prevalence is coming down, currently averaging at 5.1%, but still higher amongst women than men.
New HIV infections per annum are now 38,000, with women more affected than men.
