Kenya gets Sh2bn US grant to fight Aids

The US Government Wednesday boosted the fight against the Aids scourge in the country with a Sh2 billion (USD 25 million) grant to the Aids fund.

The money now raises the total US support to Sh42 billion (USD560 million) for the next five years. Already, Sh40 billion (USD530 million) had been disbursed at the start of the year.

Addressing a news conference during the high-level agreement signing ceremony at The Treasury, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said the money “came with no conditions apart from ensuring it is utilised properly.”

The agreement, the minister said, was just meant to set clear objectives under which the funds will be disbursed and to ensure that they are used “transparently.”

US ambassador Michael Ranneberger pledged an increase in direct funds on the annual budgets estimated at Sh100 million to buy ARV’s and laboratory reagents.
The aim, the ambassador said, was to ensure there was a decrease in the amount of money returned to the Treasury.

The next phase of the grant under the US’s Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) is set to see the amount doubled to over Sh270 billion, said Mr Ranneberger.

With 2009 coming to a close, the government has until 2013 to ensure the Aids prevalence is reduced from the current 7 per cent.

According to a five-year plan to be launched on January 11, the bulk of the grant targets the treatment of 270,000 patients, including the direct purchase of ARV’s for 190,000 patients.

Care for orphans and prevention of the disease is also top on the list of the ministry’s priorities.

The plan steered by the National Aids Control Council is aimed at managing the disease which is said to eat into the economic growth by up to two percentage points.
Testing of five million Kenyans among them a million pregnant women is also a goal for the Nacc as it goes ahead to utilise the funds.

According to the Nacc boss Alloys Orago, Wednesday’s cash boost was “a real milestone” that will help reduce the pangs of the disease which is ravaging the rural areas.

Prof Orago said the first phase of the five-year programme is estimated to cost Sh270 billion (USD 3.6 billion).

The plan is implemented through the ministries of Youth, Defence, Special Programmes, Medical Services, Public Health and that of Finance. However, Nacc remains the coordinating body.

The news of the additional funds came just a day after shocking revelations that one of the anti-retrovirals drugs in the market had adverse side effects on the users. The drug, Stavudine, is now being phased out.

Also present at the function were Special Programmes Minister Naomi Shaban and permanent secretaries from the ministries of Special Programmes, Medical Services, Public Health and Sanitation.