Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision - (Kampala) December 18, 2003
Richard Komakech
State minister for health Captain Mike Mukula said his ministry wants drugs to be availed to the country's thousands in need of the drugs immediately.
"We are trying all we can to ensure that this is resolved and we shall definitely get drugs on the ground," Mukula told journalists at the ministry headquarters yesterday.
The Sunday Vision reported that the finance ministry had stopped the inflow of money from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The Fund approved $136m (sh264b) for Uganda to cover HIV/AIDS care and treatment for two years.
On World AIDS Day, health minister Brigadier Jim Muhwezi said the Government would start giving free ARV drugs to people with AIDS starting January 2004. The finance ministry reportedly told the Fund and the Ministry of Health that such a huge amount of money would trigger inflation in the economy.
Recently, the Government opened initial bids for the anti-retroviral drugs (ARV) drugs worth $3m (sh6.7b) targeting an estimated 150,000 Ugandans in need of the drugs.
According to UNAIDS statistics, the use of ARVs by an estimated 11,000 Ugandans has improved the situation.
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