The United States government has pledged 25 million dollars to support the prevention of HIV mother to child transmission (PMTCT) progrmmes in Uganda.
This was announced by the US Ambassador, Jerry Lanier during the 5th national pediatric HIV/AIDS conference in Kampala.
Ambassador Lanier says the funds will be directed to the projects whose goal is to eliminate mother to child transmission by 2015.
“It is a very big challenge to the government to see that PMTCT is stopped and that is why our government has come in to help with this fund,” he said.
He added that the funds will complement the current efforts of the Health Ministry to increase access to healthcare.
The President of the Uganda Pediatrics Association, Dr. Sabrina Kitaka says that 90% of the pediatric HIV/AIDS cases are transmitted from mothers. “We cannot continue losing people through something that can easily be prevented,” she said.
Dr. Kataka has appealed to all expectant mothers to go for HIV testing to protect their children from contracting the virus.
