U.S. Gives Uganda $6.2 Million for Antiretroviral Program

The United States Agency for International Development gave a Ugandan center $6.2 million to help local organizations provide antiretroviral therapy, Health Minister Brigadier Jim Muhwezi said Thursday. "It is a three-year program under which the Joint Clinical Research Center will launch ARV services in more than 20 public, private and faith-based sites across Uganda." JCRC is the largest ARV provider in Uganda, and an internationally recognized HIV center. The Timetable for Regional Scaleup of AR Therapy expects to reach over 60,000 people in the next three years. The program will ensure high-quality laboratory services, counseling services and an adequate supply of drugs sold at cost, and it will forge strong links with community organizations to ensure treatment adherence. About a million Ugandans have died from AIDS, 70,000 of them last year.

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