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The East African Treatment Access Movement (EATAM), an HIV/AIDS advocacy group, is concerned that a new 10 percent tax levied on imported goods by the region's customs union could impair the availability of anti-AIDS drugs.
The levy was imposed despite a state of emergency being declared in the region as a result of the pandemic, and EATAM member James Kamau fears that children, women, the poor and hard-to-reach people in rural areas will bear the brunt of the additional tax.
A Kenyan newspaper, The Nation, quoted Kamau as saying: "The customs issue was discussed without recognising the health implications, especially the right to health, which is a universal human right."
Officials from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda launched the 'East African Customs Union' earlier this year, in the hope of increasing regional and global trade.
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