Uganda gets US Aids money
2004-02-03 07:44
Kampala - The United States embassy in Uganda announced on Monday that the east African country had received $37m from Washington's fund to combat Aids in Africa and the Caribbean region.
The amount already disbursed represented half of what Uganda was to receive from the US Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) this year, according to an embassy statement.
Last year, US President George W Bush called for the United States to spend $15bn on HIV/Aids prevention and research over five years.
Bush had asked for $3bn for the first year but Congress appropriated $2.4bn for HIV/Aids funding in the 2004 fiscal year.
In Uganda, the money will be spent on expanding existing HIV/Aids programmes, including making antiretroviral treatments available to 60 000 HIV-positive Ugandans and another 300 000 Aids sufferers receiving care and support.
An estimated 1.2 million Ugandans are infected with HIV and some two million children have lost their parents to Aids, according to official figures.
- AFP