- Kenya told it must accelerate delivery of HIV services to keep the promise of ending AIDS in children by 2030
- Kenya is part the Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030, which comprises 12 priority countries worst affected by HIV.
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Kenya's plan to end Aids in children before 2030 is on the right track, but this target may not be achieved at the current speed, experts have said.
Aids is the final, most severe stage of mostly-untreated HIV, and often ends in death.
Kenya plans to stop Aids by preventing HIV infection in newborns and promptly treating all infected children.
Experts on Tuesday commended Kenya's efforts, saying 87 per cent of all infants born to women living with HIV receive a timely diagnosis.
A report on Africa's 12 top HIV burden countries shows only South Africa has higher levels of diagnosis for infants at 90 per cent.
The situation is worse in some African countries such as Angola (14 per cent) and Nigeria where only 18 per cent of infants receive diagnosis.
However, the report shows the country must now do more to end Aids in children by 2030.
“I applaud the progress that many countries are making in rolling out HIV services to keep young women healthy and to protect babies and children from HIV,” said UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima.
“With the medicines and science available today, we can ensure all babies are born—and remain—HIV-free, and that all children who are living with HIV get on and stay on treatment.”
Kenya is part of the Global Alliance for Ending Aids in Children by 2030, which comprises 12 priority countries worst affected by HIV.
The alliance was launched in 2022 by World Health Organization, Unicef and UNAIDS to reinvigorate the paediatric HIV agenda.
The new progress report released on Monday, titled "Transforming Vision Into Reality", shows among the 12 countries, several have achieved strong coverage of lifelong antiretroviral therapy among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV.
In Uganda, nearly 100 per cent mothers with HIV are on ARVs. It is followed by Tanzania with 98 per cent coverage, and South Africa at 97 per cent. Mozambique has achieved 90 per cent coverage, with Zambia at 90 per cent, Angola at 89 per cent, Kenya at 89 per cent, Zimbabwe at 88 per cent, and Cote d'Ivoire at 84 per cent.
Other members of the alliance are Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.
“Twelve countries are demonstrating they have made that choice, but significant challenges remain. While we have made progress in increasing access for pregnant women to testing and treatment to prevent vertical transmission of HIV, we are still far from closing the paediatric treatment gap,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO.
About 100,000 Kenyan children were living with HIV in 2021, according to the Ministry of Health.
Currently, about 8.6 per cent of babies born to mothers living with the virus also turn positive. The country is working to reduce that to below five per cent.
In September last year, the Ministry of Health launched the Kenya Plan to End Aids— the advanced HIV disease—in Children by 2027.
The four-point action plan seeks to eliminate Aids in children by 2027, including ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis.
On Monday, Global Fund boss Peter Sands said they have been procuring the latest dolutegravir-based paediatric treatment regimens at negotiated prices to support national programmes.
“Our investments in laboratory systems are helping ensure exposed infants are rapidly tested and that those that test positive are quickly initiated on age-appropriate antiretroviral treatment. Differentiated testing and treatment approaches are helping close the diagnostic gap and ensuring more child-centred service delivery,” he said.
Kenya’s plan to end Aids in children by 2027 focuses on strengthening, leveraging and accelerating multi-sector approach to address the triple threat of new HIV infections, pregnancies and sexual and gender-based violence facing the youth.
The ministry will also advocate for the inclusion of benefits for vulnerable households of children and women living with HIV within socio-protection, nutritional support and social health insurance frameworks.