Judith Atim
The ministry of Health has proposed a Shs. 5bn budgetary allocation for the financial year 2015/2016 to support interventions towards Hepatitis B following a review of its budget.
According to a letter from the Ministry of health permanent secretary Dr. Asuman Lukwago to the Clerk to the parliamentary Committee on Health, the ministry has also proposed the creation of a new output called the response to Hepatitis B, to accommodate the funds.
The reallocation of funds follows a meeting on April 30th this year between the ministry of health and the parliamentary committee on health, in which the committee recommended that the ministry gets from its budget Shs. 5 billion for Hepatitis interventions.
Experts say an estimated 16 million Ugandans are at risk of contracting the disease, especially adolescents and young adults.
So far, three million Ugandans are living with Hepatitis B.
