The government has asked Parliament to approve Shs15 billion to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns across the country, citing persistent new infections among young people and the need to expand public awareness programmes.
The funding request was presented by the Minister in the Office of the President, Milly Babalanda, during a parliamentary sitting on Thursday, November 12, 2026. She said the money would support the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) in coordinating and expanding HIV prevention communication programmes targeting different population groups.
Babalanda told MPs that although Uganda had made progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths, the country continued to register approximately 34,000 new HIV infections annually, making prevention a priority if the government is to achieve its commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
“The country needs to continue prioritising HIV prevention interventions, particularly by strengthening social and behavioural change programmes. These should include messages promoting abstinence and faithfulness, while ensuring that all population groups receive information suited to their circumstances,” Babalanda said.
She identified stigma and discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence and inadequate use of modern communication technologies to reach young people as some of the challenges affecting the country’s HIV response.
The minister said the persistence of new infections was partly linked to complacency, with some members of the public lowering their guard against HIV because of increased access to treatment and other interventions.
She also pointed to gaps in communication, particularly among young people who increasingly rely on digital platforms for information, saying prevention campaigns must adapt to the changing ways in which different age groups access and consume information.
Recent figures released by the Uganda AIDS Commission show that young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for 38 per cent of the country’s new HIV infections in 2025, with young women making up 77 per cent of infections within that age group.
The figures indicate that adolescent girls and young women continue to bear a disproportionate share of new infections among young people, highlighting the need for prevention programmes that address gender inequality and the social and economic factors that increase their vulnerability.
Uganda’s 2025 Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment also put HIV prevalence among adults aged 15 and above at 5.9 per cent, representing approximately 1.496 million people living with the virus.
The survey further established that HIV prevalence among young people aged 15 to 24 stood at 1.5 per cent, but was higher among young women at two per cent compared to one per cent among young men.
Despite the continued infections, Uganda has recorded improvements in HIV treatment and management. Preliminary findings from the assessment show that 85.3 per cent of people living with HIV aged 15 and above knew their status, while 99.1 per cent of those who knew their status were receiving antiretroviral treatment. Of those on treatment, 96.5 per cent had achieved viral suppression.
Babalanda welcomed the progress made under the Presidential Fast Track Initiative on Ending AIDS as a Public Health Threat by 2030, but said the country must sustain prevention efforts to avoid losing the gains already registered.
She urged government agencies and other stakeholders to intensify interventions aimed at achieving what is commonly referred to as the three zeros: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and stigma, and zero 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 deaths related to AIDS,” she said.
However, the proposed Shs15 billion will first undergo parliamentary scrutiny after Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth referred the minister’s request to the Committee on HIV/AIDS.
Oboth questioned the details accompanying the request, indicating that MPs needed to establish precisely what the money would finance before considering its approval.
“The committee will interrogate the request for the Shs15 billion because from here, we do not know why she [minister] wants the money,” Oboth said.
The committee’s scrutiny is expected to establish the justification for the additional funding and examine how the proposed expenditure would support the Uganda AIDS Commission’s nationwide prevention and communication activities.
The request comes amid continuing efforts to sustain Uganda’s HIV response, particularly following funding challenges that have affected the financing of prevention, treatment and community-based interventions.
In February 2025, the Uganda AIDS Commission indicated that it needed Shs300 billion to address a funding gap following changes in support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), highlighting the country’s reliance on external financing for some HIV programmes.
With the 2030 target approaching, the proposed Shs15 billion adds to the government’s efforts to strengthen prevention, improve public awareness and reduce new infections, particularly among young people and other vulnerable groups.
