USAID/Uanda provides $3 Million in PEPFAR funding to HOSPICE Africa Uganda

With funding under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing $3 million to Hospice Africa Uganda to expand access to comprehensive palliative care services for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families in Uganda.

A partnership agreement will be signed on Wednesday October 12th by Ms. Margot Ellis, the USAID Mission Director on behalf of the U.S. Government, and Mrs. Angela Kiryabwire Kanyima, Chairperson of the Hospice Board of Directors on behalf of Hospice Africa Uganda.

This assistance will enable Hospice Africa Uganda to build the capacity of private and public sector Ugandan AIDS service organizations to integrate pain management, symptom control and end-of life care into their AIDS care and support services.  Along with training health care professionals, Hospice will also train community-based volunteers including religious and spiritual leaders, traditional healers, and HIV/AIDS networks to provide intermediate home and community-based care and referral.  Activities will cover four districts annually, for a total of twelve districts over the three-year period.

USAID/Uganda had previously provided $350,000 to Hospice Africa Uganda through USAID’s AIDS Integrated Model District Program (AIM) for training and capacity building of HIV/AIDS palliative care services in Kibaale, Tororo and Ntungamo.

Hospice Africa Uganda is a model for palliative and end of life care, and the only organization in Uganda with the technical and institutional capacity to provide training in pain management and symptom control, as well as end of life care.  It is also the only private organization in Uganda authorized to handle and prescribe morphine.

Since the late 1980s, the USG has been working in partnership with the Government of Uganda (GOU) in prevention of HIV transmission and provision of care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  USG assistance for fighting HIV/AIDS has been focused on supporting both non-governmental organizations, such as The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), AIDS Information Centre (AIC), and the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC), in direct service delivery, while at the same time supporting the government to develop and strengthen policies, systems and institutions (like the Uganda AIDS Commission), which support delivery of quality and standardized services.

Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the USG in partnership with the GOU has been able to expand access to essential HIV/AIDS services for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  Since the launch of PEPFAR in January 2004, 171,000 individuals have received care and support while almost 40,000 have accessed the life saving Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). Over 70,000 orphans and vulnerable children have also received care and support. 

In 2005, the U.S. Government provided over $132 million for HIV/AIDS activities in Uganda.

Palliative care remains a critical intervention in Uganda’s successful response to HIV/AIDS and will continue to receive priority attention under PEPFAR. Quality palliative care mitigates the impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals and families by minimizing stigma, improving the care of the sick, encouraging people to seek treatment, and increasing people’s ability to manage the many challenges involved in this epidemic.

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