Efforts to end HIV/AIDS by 2030 have received a boost after government sought Shs15 billion to strengthen prevention interventions and expand public awareness campaigns across the country.
The Minister in the Office of the President, Milly Babalanda, told Parliament during Thursday’s plenary sitting, November 12, 2026, that the proposed funding would support the Uganda AIDS Commission in coordinating and scaling up HIV prevention messages countrywide.
“The country needs to continue to prioritise HIV prevention interventions, especially with a focus on scaling up social and behavioural change interventions, including abstinence and faithfulness, to reach all population groups with targeted HIV prevention messages,” Ms Babalanda said.
She said that although Uganda had made progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, several challenges continued to undermine efforts to control the epidemic.
These include stigma and discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence, complacency towards HIV prevention and limited use of technology to communicate prevention messages to young people.
Babalanda said new HIV infections remained unacceptably high, with approximately 34,000 infections recorded annually. She noted that young people accounted for a significant proportion of the new infections, with young women aged 15 to 24 years contributing 30 per cent.
Despite the challenges, the minister commended the Presidential Fast-Track Initiative on ending AIDS by 2030, saying it had contributed to a 65 per cent reduction in annual AIDS-related deaths.
“As a country, we should therefore focus and accelerate interventions to reach the global commitment towards achieving the three zeros: zero new HIV infections, zero stigma and discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths,” she said.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Marksons Oboth referred the minister’s statement and funding request to the Committee on HIV/AIDS for further scrutiny.
Oboth said the committee would examine the proposed Shs15 billion allocation to establish the specific activities for which the money was being sought.
“The committee will interrogate the request for the Shs15 billion because from here, we do not know why she (the minister) wants the money,” Oboth said.
