For Immediate Release: November 9 2011

International Community of Women Living with HIV East Africa (ICWEA) • CHAIN Uganda • The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) Uganda • International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development (HEPS Uganda) • Mama’s Club Uganda National Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) Better HAG Uganda

Secretary Clinton says ending AIDS is now a U.S. policy—HIV/AIDS, public health, women’s and human rights groups call for the Government of Uganda to rise to the challenge, along with PEPFAR

(Kampala) Ugandan civil society welcomed a major speech by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describing a commitment by the Obama Administration to work to bring about an end to the AIDS epidemic. Clinton described an intention to act on unprecedented new scientific findings, in particular a study showing that HIV treatment not only saves lives, it also reduces the risk of sexual transmission by 96% (see http://bit.ly/uXYm00.). According to Clinton, scaling up high-impact interventions such as HIV treatment means that “instead of falling behind year after year, we will, for the first time, get ahead of the pandemic. We will be on the path to an AIDS-free generation. That is the power of combination prevention.”

The activists called for Clinton’s words to be matched with bold action by President Obama and the Government of Uganda. “We applaud Clinton’s speech,” said Lillian Mworeko, executive director of the International Community of Women Living with HIV East Africa. “We know combination prevention, brought to scale, will turn the tide of this pandemic, which is still the leading killer of women of reproductive age worldwide. Now Uganda must urgently step up and commit alongside the Obama Administration to seize the opportunity to bring about an
end to the AIDS crisis.”

According to experts, Uganda’s response to HIV is faltering badly—it is the only PEPFAR focus country with rising HIV infection rates, with an estimated 132,500 infections annually. More than 40% of Ugandans in urgent need of HIV treatment currently do not have access to treatment to save their lives and prevent new infections. One in five new HIV infections in Uganda is from mother to child.

“Uganda must accelerate its response to AIDS, and rise to the challenge announced today by Secretary Clinton to create an AIDS-free generation,” said Joshua Wamboga of TASO Uganda. “The U.S. government and the Ugandan government must take action together to end this pandemic. With an up-front investment, they can make the down payment to alter the cost trajectory and end this epidemic. They can either they pay now—or they will pay forever.”

“We cannot continue with business as usual. A radical strategy for a prevention revolution will be necessary to deliver an AIDS-free generation,” said Leonard Okello, Executive Director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda. “Uganda must rise to the challenge and deliver that change—and civil society commits itself to working with government and donors to make this bold vision a reality.”

The groups called on President Museveni to reactivate his once acclaimed leadership in the response to HIV, working partners such as PEPFAR, the Global Fund, the private sector, civil society and all Ugandans to:

1. Double the pace of HIV treatment scale up and expand national HIV treatment eligibility criteria to enable earlier initiation of treatment
2. Adopt universal access to “PMTCT-plus” services through accelerated ART for HIV positive pregnant women regardless of CD4 count

3. Equip all HCIIIs, HCIVs, and all hospitals with comprehensive PMTCT services (all 4 prongs) and recruit the necessary staff to deliver those services
4. Adopt a policy for accelerated scale up of safe medical male circumcision, reaching at least 80% of all adult men by 2015

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