This follows reports that AIDS funds were being abused by the National Aids Council (NAC) on luxuries. Last week media reports reviewed that of the US$1.7 million in levies collected by NAC since the introduction of multiple currencies, only US$20 000 was used for anti retroviral drug purchases.
The President of ZHAAU, Bernard Nyathi, said he only heard the amount that NAC had received in the media. This is despite the fact that he is in fact a bona fide Board Member of the AIDS council.
“NAC is abusing funds with dubious organizations like ZNPP that only represent people at workshops, we want full representation,” he said.
At a meeting during the weekend, ZHAAU said that the Secretariat of NAC should be restructured.
While NAC is supposed to spend 50 per cent of levies on ARVs this is not the case.
Most of the money is spend on fat salaries and trips abroad. Money for NAC comes from tax levied to Zimbabweans of 3 per cent.
About 1.7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and yet only about 150 000 are
getting the essential ARV drug. Due to continued abuse of funds by the government through NAC, donor organizations like Global Fund are now channelling their funds through the UNDP.