By Mercy Imali
The US government plans to cut HIV funding. The US government claims HIV incidence in Kenya is on the decline. Hence, the heavy cuts to Kenya by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar).
Pepfar will reduce its funding to Kenya from KSH 50.5 billion this financial year to Ksh 35 billion next year.
“Kenya has made enormous strides in the fight against HIV and has completed or is nearing completion of many Pepfar programme goals. There are indications the country is getting close to the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals. We believe that Kenya may be close to achieving viral load suppression and declines in incidence, given the level of investment we have made,” Pepfar chief Deborah Birx said in a memo to US Ambassador Kyle McCarter.
US ambassadors are responsible for implementing Pepfar programmes in their respective countries.
Kenya’s HIV programme is heavily reliant on external funding with the US government contributing nearly three-quarters. The cuts will severely limit projects funding prostitutes and the gay community.
Pepfar is now focused on achieving control. They are basically limiting the number of new infections each year to less than the number of deaths among people living with HIV. In order to ensure the sustainability of response.
Data from the National Aids Control Council shows that HIV prevalence in Kenya stands at about 4.8 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent in 2012. At least 1.5 million people live with the virus, but only one million are on treatment.