By Elijah Khisa
The Government of Uganda has commended China for providing US$2.9 million to strengthen health systems and increase access to quality integrated health services aimed at eliminating the vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B in the Busoga and Bunyoro regions by 2028.
The Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, H.E. Wu Guangrong, made the remarks during the official launch of the project, dubbed Accelerating the Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B in Uganda (ATESHHU), held at the Ministry of Health headquarters.
The Assistant Commissioner of the AIDS Control Programme at the Ministry of Health, Dr Richard Mutumba, commended the Government of China, through China Aid, for the funding, saying it would help build the capacity of healthcare service providers in the beneficiary regions of Busoga and Bunyoro.
The project is being implemented in partnership with development stakeholders, including UNICEF and UNAIDS, with the African Network for the Care of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (ANECCA) as the implementing partner.
ANECCA Executive Director, Dr Denis Tindyebwa, said the organisation would use the resources to build the capacity of sector stakeholders and ensure that the objectives of the project are achieved.
He thanked the Ministry of Health for the technical support extended to the project, saying ANECCA would strengthen collaboration with stakeholders to ensure a positive impact.
Scope of the project
Dr Mutumba said the 24-month project, worth US$2,955,791, targets 2,445,800 beneficiaries across 22 districts in the two regions that have been identified as having a high burden of vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.
He said implementation and coordination of the project would be monitored through Jinja and Hoima Regional Referral Hospitals.
According to Dr Mutumba, more than 4,700 paediatric HIV infections occur annually as a result of vertical transmission.
He said HIV prevalence in Busoga stands at 3.0 percent, while Bunyoro has a higher prevalence of 4.8 percent. Teenage pregnancy rates in the two regions stand at 28.4 percent and 24.2 percent in Busoga and Bunyoro respectively.
Dr Mutumba regretted that both regions are among the lowest performers on the World Health Organization (WHO) path-to-elimination indicators.
He said the 2,445,800 beneficiaries include pregnant and breastfeeding women, who account for 823,500 beneficiaries, while 798,800 are children within the vertical transmission risk period. A further 823,500 male partners are expected to benefit indirectly.
Overall, 1,622,300 women and children will be direct beneficiaries of the project.
The key areas of investment will include health workforce capacity building and mentorship, integrated antenatal care and triple-elimination services.
Other areas will include strengthening health information systems, monitoring and evaluation, diagnostics for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, supply chain management and quality assurance.
The project will also support antiretroviral and other treatment commodities, district health systems strengthening, community engagement and male involvement in health services.
Participants, including Village Health Teams (VHTs) and local government authorities from the 22 beneficiary districts, welcomed the selection of their districts, citing the extensive disease burden.
They pledged to support implementation of the project to ensure that communities in the two regions benefit from the intervention.
