Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Uganda
  • News

UGANDA: HIV/AIDS drugs for workers infected on duty

    JOHANNESBURG
    Uganda on Thursday said healthcare workers who contracted the HI virus while on duty would get free drug therapy. Director of the Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS Control Programme, Elizabeth Madraa, told the UN news service Plusnews the drugs would be provided under the Uganda Multi-sectoral AIDS Project (MAP) and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "These drugs were previously only available in the private sector, but will be made available to all healthcare providers once antiretroviral policy documents have been drafted by government," Madraa said. Madraa said recent government negotiations with pharmaceutical companies had further reduced the price for a month's course of HIV/AIDS drugs from about US $38 to about US $12. "I cannot commit myself on dates for the free treatment and think it is unfortunate that treatment can only begin once the policy has been drafted, but this document is needed as a guideline for the antiretroviral treatment of people infected by HIV," Madraa told Plusnews.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join