Kenya wins big in war on HIV

What you need to know:

  • The report indicates that antiretroviral therapy is a powerful force for saving lives. In the last 24 months the number of people accessing treatment has increased by 63 percent globally.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, a record 2.3 million people had access to ARVs; they were more than half a million fewer deaths in 2011 than in 2005.
  • The largest drop in AIDS-related deaths is being seen in countries where HIV prevalence is relatively high. Kenya had 71,000 fewer deaths, South Africa 100,000, Zimbabwe nearly 90,000, and Ethiopia 48,000.

Kenya is among the six African countries that have recorded a sharp drop in new HIV infections among children, a global report released ahead of the World Aids Day shows.

The number of children newly infected with HIV has decreased by 40 per cent in the last two years between 2009 and 2011.

The report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (Unaids) hails Burundi, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Togo and Zambia as countries where most progress has been made in reducing new HIV infections in children.

While releasing the report on Thursday, Unaids executive director Michel Sidibe said half of the global reductions in new HIV infections in the last two years have been among newborn children.

“It is becoming evident that achieving zero new HIV infections in children is possible, I am excited that far fewer babies are being born with HIV. We are moving from despair to hope,” he said.

The report indicates that antiretroviral therapy is a powerful force for saving lives. In the last 24 months the number of people accessing treatment has increased by 63 percent globally.

In sub-Saharan Africa, a record 2.3 million people had access to ARVs; they were more than half a million fewer deaths in 2011 than in 2005.

The largest drop in AIDS-related deaths is being seen in countries where HIV prevalence is relatively high. Kenya had 71,000 fewer deaths, South Africa 100,000, Zimbabwe nearly 90,000, and Ethiopia 48,000.

The agency noted that there has been a 13 per cent decline in TB-related AIDS deaths for the last two years. “This accomplishment is due to record numbers of people accessing antiretroviral treatment, who have increased by 45 per cent,” the report says.

“Male circumcision has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection. However, there’s been limited progress in scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision,” the report further adds.

Despite the gains, Unaids notes that there is an urgent need to improve HIV treatment retention rates; reduce the cost of second- and third-line treatment; and explore new ways of expanding and sustaining access to treatment, including domestic production of medicines and innovative financing.

“Despite the progress in stopping new infections, the total number remains high at 2.5 million in 2011,” says the report.