Kenneth Mwehonge

Kenneth is currently implementing a new social accountability model that pairs a community scorecard with PEPFAR Site Improvement Monitoring Systems (SIMS) to strengthen the community/civil society accountability of PEPFAR programs in Uganda. He also coordinates CSO engagement with PEPFAR at the country level and oversees the implementation of community-led monitoring in Uganda. At the time of his project, he had more than six years’ experience in health promotion and advocacy. He has worked with both grassroots communities and national level stakeholders in promoting health and the rights of people living with HIV in Uganda by advocating for consumer-friendly policies.

Fellowship Focus
Kenneth’s project focused on promoting universal access to viral load monitoring services in Uganda. He established a national viral load monitoring advocacy group through the Uganda Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines, which contributed to creating overwhelming demand for the services. He also set up a community network of champions for monitoring a quality viral load services campaign and informed and shaped Uganda’s viral load rollout plan to set ambitious targets and succeeded in getting PEPFAR, the Global Fund and other stakeholders to commit more financial resources to the program.

In Their Own Words
More than ever, there is growing evidence that an HIV cure is possible. The AIDS response has come a long way, from a death sentence to now a manageable and preventable disease. Despite the availability of HIV treatment and prevention tools, we continue to lose one million lives annually due to lack of access, poor adherence and sporadic stock-outs of lifelong treatment in many parts of the world. To me, an HIV cure is the magic bullet to the zero death target, and this is my greatest inspiration.

My Work as a Fellow

• Fact sheet on viral load testing: Kenneth developed this basic fact sheet for civil society and other stakeholders to use in their advocacy/work on viral load testing.
• World AIDS Day statement: Kenneth worked with other civil society partners to write a statement on World AIDS Day 2015 calling for fast tracking of rollout of viral load monitoring in Uganda.
• Policy brief: Policy makers are key for all advocacy initiatives, and Kenneth developed this “Policy brief on viral load monitoring in Uganda” specifically targeted at Uganda’s policy makers.
• AIDS2016 Abstract: Kenneth’s advocacy on viral load monitoring in Uganda got highlighted when an abstract about it was accepted for presentation at the 2016 IAS Conference in Durban.
• Fellowship summary report: “Increasing universal access to viral load testing for HIV treatment monitoring” is the final report that summarizes Kenneth’s Fellowship experience and activities.

Materials

• Poster – Influencing HIV Programming in Uganda to Develop a Roadmap to achieving the UNAIDS 90 Percent Viral Load Suppression Targets
• Media – Uganda: New Guidelines for HIV Treatment
• World AIDS Day 2020