[6][7] Consisting of 11 members, the UAC Board serves as the supreme decision-making organ that provides policy guidelines and strategic direction to the Secretariat in implementation of its mandate.
Alongside its full-time Chairperson, these members include individuals from both government and non-government sectors, those living with HIV, and others selected for their exceptional expertise.
This approach aimed to build powerful coalitions between the government and its multi-sectoral stakeholders, including community-based organizations and businesses, to best enact prevention efforts.
[11] In 2002, it established the Uganda HIV/AIDS Partnership Mechanism (PM), which encouraged several constituencies working to combat the HIV/AIDS crisis to accept both the One National Strategic Plan and the One M&E Framework.
[12] In 2003, the UAC conducted a mid-term review of the 2000–2006 National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and subsequently facilitated partner dialogues to enhance HIV communication strategies, with a particular focus on young people.
[13] In June 2017, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, launched the Presidential Fast Track Initiative (PFTI), which aimed to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
[14] Following this announcement, the UAC launched the Wear a Red Ribbon Campaign to promote testing, end the stigma, and raise awareness about the crisis.
[15] This campaign encouraged individuals to wear a red ribbon each day in unity and solidarity with those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, particularly adolescent girls and young women.
[18] In addition to these initiatives, the UAC has established the following: (1) a specific HIV/AIDS Committee in parliament to ensure that the HIV agenda is discussed in government legislature and (2) the HIV/AIDS mainstreaming guidelines, which were incorporated into the last two budget call circulars.
[4] Around this time, the UAC reorganized the Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) to oversee the mobilization and management of global funds allocated to both public and private sector principal recipients.
This plan gathers the strengths, efforts, and resources of cultural institutions in the multi-sectoral HIV response to help tackle the socio-cultural factors driving the epidemic, while acknowledging that biomedical interventions alone are inadequate to prevent its spread.
It contributed to Africa Agenda 2063, which set out to ensure the health and well-nourishment of its citizens, as well as improve institutional capacity and bring about more transformative leadership.
In 2013, the Commission achieved the Africa Agenda's established ten-year target to reduce HIV/AIDS infections by at least 80% and lower the proportion of deaths attributed to HIV by 50%.
Kayondo encouraged the UAC to adopt an earlier approach, whose educational strategy revolved around the use of school plays, entertainment skits, and vigorous social media use to increase awareness.
[35] November 6, 2024: "The Uganda AIDS Commission has been asked to consider refocusing the available HIV prevention messages as a strategic method to re-energize the fight to eliminate the virus by 2030."
[36] August 28, 2024: "The Uganda AIDS Commission bosses are dismayed by the increasing number of people, especially men, who die of HIV/AIDS in the country due to negligence."