Members of Parliament from Tanzania commends Uganda for its effort in the fight against HIV/AIDs
Members of Parliament from Tanzania sitting on the Committee of HIV/AIDs who are currently in Uganda to benchmark HIV/AIDs programming have lauded Uganda for its effort in the fight against HIV/AIDs prevalence in the country.
The Tanzania HIV/AIDs Committee of Parliament chairperson, Hon Oscar Mukasa said they are very much impressed with the efforts directed towards HIV/AIDs control by the government of Uganda, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and AIDs Information Centre.
In what Mukasa termed as “a spirited fight” against HIV/AIDs in Uganda, he argued others African countries to emulate what Uganda has done.
“We have visited a network of people living with HIV/AIDs, we have visited NGOs implementing HIV/AIDs programs and we are impressed with the great work done,” Hon Mukasa said.
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He made the remarks during their visit on Tuesday 10th, December 2019 to the Speaker of Parliament of Uganda at Serena Hotel Kampala.
A legal framework conducive for HIV/AIDs prevention and treatment are in place in Tanzania just like Uganda has done. However, Mukasa says Tanzanian government have not yet functionalised the HIV/AIDs trust fund.
2014, HIV/AIDs Prevention and Control Act in Uganda, provides the HIV Trust Fund purposely to secure predictable and sustainable means of procuring goods and services for HIV and AIDs counselling, testing and treatment.
Intended to bridge funding gaps and donor dependence in the fight against HIV/AIDs in Uganda. In this, the government of Uganda was to levy taxes on alcohol and soft drinks to fund the fight against HIV/AIDs.
However, Hon Joel Ssebikaali, the Vice-Chairperson Committee on HIV/AIDs and related matters of Parliament of Uganda says the 2% collections from taxes on spirits, soft beers and bottled water was hoped to finance the fund, which has not materialised yet.
With an exception of 50 billion Uganda shillings provided in 2008, by the government of Uganda to purchase the then antiretroviral drugs stock-outs which is not given every year.
In his view, the government should prioritise HIV/AIDs prevention by drawing more funds towards its control and treatment to make life comfortable for people living with the virus.
“We worry that the shs50 billion is not guaranteed annually, we need the fund to materialise such that it is sustainable and that our people living with HIV would never lack treatment,” Hon Ssebikaali said
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Relatedly, Speaker Kadaga in her remarks said she’s very much disappointed by the government because until today it has not yet functionalised the trust fund, despite passing of the HIV/AIDs Prevention and Control Act in 2014.
“This is my area of frustration, when we passed the law, we thought we were helping government, but it has taken long to materialise the trust fund we asked,” Kadaga noted.
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Kadaga however, said in the next Parliamentary sitting, she will ask the Minister of Finance
Planning and Economic Development to explain why the government has taken long to respond to their request.
She adds that campaigns against HIV/AIDs in Uganda has declined, and in this case, she urged HIV/AIDs stakeholders to re-start the move such that the current challenges are stamped out.
“Those days, we had HIV/AIDs messages played in buses, on billboards, radios and everywhere, I hope the current strategy of 90,90,90 will address the existing challenges,” said Kadaga.
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