Following the suspension of all foreign aid from the United States of America by President Donald Trump, the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) has been thrown in disarray prompting calls to Parliament to ensure Shs300Bn is availed to the Commission if Uganda is to reverse the looming crisis that awaits the fight against HIV/AIDs in the country.
The appeal was made by Dr. Vincent Bagambe, Director Planning and Strategic Information at Uganda AIDs Commission while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS on 7th February 2025 where he appealed for more funds in order not to jeopardize the achievements Uganda has registered in the past years in its fight against HIV/AIDs arguing that the funds are required to support the continued supply of key HIV services.
“The Parliament together with the Ministry of Finance should redirect the budget priorities and increase funding for HIV services with an additional lump sum of Shs300Bn to cover medicines, laboratory supplies and other commodities previously contributed by PEPFAR. This should be in addition to the current commitment of Shs500Bn annual increments budget support. The long-term goal should be to cover all antiretroviral therapy and commodity costs, allowing partners to focus on supporting other activities such as capacity building, social support and protection as well as supervision and technical assistance,” Dr. Bagambe said.
Dr. Nelson Musoba doubled down on the request for the UGX300Bn noting, “We request that you rework the budget because as a country, it is not just our people but our sovereignty is at stake.”
Ruth Ssenyonyi, the Board Chairperson of Uganda AIDS commission requested Parliament to expeditiously address the looming financial crisis warning that the shortage of funds could negatively affect the successes Uganda has had in the fight against the HIV scourge.
She explained, “80 per cent of our funding is from donors so we are at a dangerous corner. We don’t want to get into an accident because anytime the finding can be taken away from us which has already been done. It affects our plans. So, we need to find alternative ways to handle this crisis right now as we think of what else will happen later on.”
In its report on the 2025/26 Budget Framework Paper, Parliament’s Health Committee recommended for the provision of additional resources to a tune of Shs40.2Bn to Uganda AIDs Committee for interventions to reduce HIV New Infections in Uganda, however, this recommendation was made before the pronouncement by the Trump Administration.
