Uganda's Finance Ministry clears way for HIV/AIDS funding

This article is more than 21 years old.

The Ugandan Finance, Planning and Development Ministry is reported by The Lancet to have changed its position on the country's health budget, so that money from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria will not be set against other health spending. This report can be read here.

Uganda's government now appears to be allocating to health around half of the 15% of government spending adopted as a target by African heads of government meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in April 2001. While the commitment to health from the Ugandan government's own funds is rising, overall health spending is set to fall in 2002-2003 due to the termination of several donor-funded projects. This highlights the extent to which the Ugandan government remains dependent on external funding to meet basic needs of its people.

A detailed review of planned spending on health for the fiscal year 2002-2003 by the Ugandan parliament's Sessional Committee on Social Services is available here.

Glossary

malaria

A serious disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans. People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. 

A variety of information resources about the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria are available here.