In 2010, 20,000 newborns were infected with HIV in Uganda. By 2022, that number had dropped to 5,900, thanks to a targeted effort to identify HIV-positive pregnant women and get them on treatment so they would not transmit the virus.
That drop was only possible thanks to funding from the U.S. government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Those funds were part of the $5 billion PEFPAR had invested in HIV prevention and treatment services in Uganda by 2023, the program’s 20th anniversary.
Now Regina Kamoga is worried those efforts might be completely undermined by the U.S. government’s stop-work order pausing any initiatives funded by American aid dollars, including most PEPFAR-supported programs.