U.S. postpones HIV/AIDS meeting in Uganda over looming anti-LGBTQ law

KAMPALA, April 27 (Reuters) – U.S. officials have postponed a meeting in Uganda about an HIV/AIDS programme in the East African country because they need time to assess the impact of an anti-LGBTQ bill soon expected to become law there, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.

The bill, one of the harshest of its kind in the world, was passed by Uganda’s parliament on March 21 and sent to President Yoweri Museveni for assent, but he sent it back asking for changes that would tone it down to a limited extent.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR), which spends $400 million in Uganda annually, informed Ugandan partners on April 25 that a meeting was being postponed in light of the potentially imminent signing of the law.

The State Department spokesperson said on Thursday the decision did not amount to freezing or cutting PEPFAR services in Uganda, but would allow officials to assess the implications of the looming law for PEPFAR activities.

“We are reviewing the possibility that the AHA (Anti-Homosexuality Act), if signed, might prevent us from providing life-saving prevention, care and treatment services equitably to all Ugandans,” the spokesperson said.

The new law would criminalise a wide range of behaviour labelled as “promoting homosexuality”, and impose tough penalties, including death for what it describes as “aggravated homosexuality”.

Museveni has asked legislators to make clear that merely identifying as gay would not be a crime, but “acting on that deviancy” would. His requests were seen as a response to widespread international condemnation of the bill.

PEPFAR, the flagship U.S. programme to curb HIV and AIDS globally, had already voiced serious concerns about the bill, saying it would jeopardise efforts to end HIV/AIDS.

The State Department spokesperson cited research that found HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) is up to five times higher in African countries with laws that criminalise those men, compared to countries without such laws.

“Additionally, HIV prevalence is up to 12 times higher among MSM in settings with recent prosecutions than in those without,” the spokesperson said. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Estelle Shirbon and Mark Heinrich)

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