Uganda is shifting emphasis from treatment of HIV-positive people to finding a lasting solution to stop the AIDS pandemic.
Dr. Kihumuro Apuuli, Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, says that Uganda lacks the resources to treat people affected by the virus.
About 23 million shillings is required to treat each person living with HIV every year.
Apuuli says that only 191,500 out of the 400,000 people who are eligible for ARVs in Uganda are able to access the drugs.
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New World Health Organization guidelines stipulate that HIV positive people should start anti-retroviral therapy before their CD4 count drops below 350.
If Uganda were to go by these guidelines, an estimated 700,000 people would be eligible for treatment.
Apuuli says even with donor funding, Uganda cannot afford to put every eligible person on ARVs because of the cost of treatment.
Dr. Benon Tugume of the AIDS Information Centre says HIV-positive Ugandans unable to access ARVs are tossed from clinic to clinic until they finally land on one capable of taking them in. He says many of these people end up at the AIDS Information Centre.
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Prosy Acheng, a person living with HIV who is registered at the clinic at Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala, says she couldn't find treatment until she relocated to Kampala.
Pauline Kisembo, the Communications Officer at the Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation at Mulago, says the experience there is quite different from the norm. She says the clinic is well funded and able to take care on all the patients it receives. The clinic receives an average of 180 clients on ARVs every day.
