Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 4/29/2003

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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CONTENT:

1 - KENYA: Feature - Help for HIV/AIDS patients

1 - KENYA: Feature - Help for HIV/AIDS patients

NAIROBI, 29 April (PLUSNEWS) - Jane Achieng had been married for just over

four years when her husband died from AIDS. Widowed, shunned by relatives

and without a job to support her and her six-year-old daughter, Achieng's

life has since then dramatically changed for the worse.

The 27-year-old mother has moved to the sprawling Mathare slum, one of

Nairobi's poorest neighbourhoods, and frequently suffers AIDS related

illnesses, but is unable to afford the antiretroviral (ARV) treatment

which is known to prolong the life of AIDS patients.

Achieng is one of Kenya's estimated 220,000 people living with AIDS who

are in dire need of antiretroviral treatment. Yet, so far only 7,000 have

been lucky enough to access the drugs.

INCREASED ARV ACCESS

Now people like Achieng may not have to wait too long to get ARV

treatment. The Kenyan government is planning to provide low cost or free

ARV treatment to up to 20 percent of AIDS patients in the country by 2005.

Wangai, the deputy director of the National AIDS/STD Control

Programme (NASCOP), announced last week that the health ministry would

start the ARV treatments in 15 public health facilities around the

country, starting next year.

Welcoming the government announcement, the organisation Medecins Sans

Frontieres (MSF), which is spearheading an international campaign for

access to essential medicines, said it strongly supported wide-scale ARV

use in Africa.

" In the face of AIDS, the only responsible action is to treat patients in

danger of dying, " Dr Jean-Hervé Bradol, president of the MSF said. " Kenyan

patients should be able to access life-saving ARV treatment, which often

enables patients to resume their activities and live an almost normal

life. "

CONCERTED EFFORTS

Kimani, who works for the Consortium of AIDS NGOs in Kenya told

PlusNews that 15 clinics countrywide for treating HIV patients was still

far to small, but a " step in the right direction " .

" We hope this is just the beginning. This is one of the things we have

been waiting for a long time. A lot of people are infected with HIV and

most can't afford to buy drugs, " he said.

Kimani, however, stressed that such an initiative from the government

would only succeed if supplemented by concerted support from other sectors

in the country, in particular, the private sector, which forms the bulk of

employers.

An estimated 2.2 million Kenyans (13 percent of the 28 million population)

are infected with HIV, according to MSF. The epidemic, which now is

estimated to kill 700 people daily, has generated close to a million

orphans in the country.

BARRIERS REMAIN

One of the key obstacles to expanding AIDS treatment in Kenya is the

prohibitive cost of ARVs, especially those with brand-names, according to

MSF. And with the average wage in Kenya estimated at a dollar a day, even

much cheaper generic drugs, which are go for about US $200 per patient per

year, remain beyond the reach of most patients.

There are also other legal barriers. Despite a new law passed last year

allowing for the import of generic drugs into Kenya, most of the drugs are

still awaiting registration by the Kenyan regulatory authority, the

Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

As a result of these obstacles, frustrated doctors in public hospitals say

they are forced to prepare most of their patients to die, rather than

raise their hopes regarding ARV treatment.

" TOO LITTLE TOO LATE "

Ouma, the National HIV/AIDS coordinator for the British charity

ActionAid, says the government's plan is " too little too late " .

" We have been having an HIV/AIDS crisis since the early 1990s, " he told

PlusNews. " I think the government can do better than this. To say that

only 40,000 (20 percent of patients) will get treatment by 2005 is just a

token gesture. "

[ENDS]

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