Museveni has signed a bill into law to criminalize HIV transmission and impose other measures public health activists say will make it even harder to get Uganda’s severe epidemic under control. The law imposes a fine and a ten-year prison sentence for “intentional transmission of HIV” and five years for “attempted transmission of HIV.” The legislation also allows for compulsory testing in some cases, such as when a woman is pregnant, and would enable courts to order the release of individuals’ HIV status without consent.

Civil society organizations reacted harshly to Uganda‟s controversial HIV Bill. This law has been publicly criticized by officials leading the HIV response in Uganda, such as the AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health and the Uganda AIDS Commission, entities that repeatedly told media that this Act would take Uganda,s AIDS response in "the wrong direction." Lilian Mworeko of ICW East Africa: “How can we achieve the AIDS Free Generation that government has committed to when Uganda adopts such a law?” Read More