Uganda's AIDS Program Faces Crisis: Activists Urge Leaders to Make More Condoms Available

AIDS advocates and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis will today urge that Uganda both promote the use and availability of condoms in its AIDS strategy. For many years, Uganda's AIDS prevention program benefited from President Yoweri Museveni's speaking publicly about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent it. Condom use was a key focus of that strategy. But in the last few years, the Ugandan and U.S. governments have emphasized abstinence and fidelity in marriage and have been reluctant to provide condoms except to those Ugandans who cannot manage either.

In October 2004, Museveni ordered a nationwide recall of the Engabu condoms the government provided free in public clinics, alleging poor quality. The government impounded all condoms and ordered a condom quality-testing program. With negative media and comments by the first lady about the effectiveness of condoms, public confidence in Engabu plummeted. In addition, new taxes drove up their price. Now Uganda's government claims the condoms are too discredited to be distributed, though they passed the tests.

As a consequence, condoms are difficult to find in Ugandan cities and are unavailable in rural areas, say advocates.

"There is no condom shortage in Uganda," said Vastha Kibirige, the Ministry of Health's condom procurement coordinator. The government said it plans to distribute unbranded condoms before distributing a new batch of 80 million Engabu condoms. The UK Department for International Development recently gave Uganda an emergency grant for 20 million new, unbranded condoms.

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