Truvada, the first pill recommended for HIV prevention in healthy
people. The National Aids Control Council requires Sh45 billion annually
to place HIV positive patients on treatment alone. PHOTO | AFP
The National Aids Control Council requires Sh45 billion annually to place HIV positive patients on treatment alone.
The
amount does not include other aspects of HIV control, including testing
and counselling, awareness creation and prevention measures.
According
to the council's deputy director, Ms Regina Ombam, they have only
settled on key areas of treatment and should they include everything,
then the amount will be higher.
“We are in talks with
National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to see how we can include HIV
treatment. We have done our evaluation and we are now in the process of
identifying how to raise funds to boost the pool of NHIF resources,” she
said.
SUPPORT HIV PROGRAMMES
She said the council is in talks with partners, who support HIV programmes, to channel their resources to NHIF.
Donors have traditionally supported Kenya’s healthcare, providing Sh7 for every Sh10 set aside to address HIV.
Some 1.64 million Kenyans are currently living with the condition, but the figure could shoot to 6.9 million by 2060.
But the donor stream is unpredictable and fragmented and often fails to arrive when it is most needed.
Ms Ombam warned that HIV is becoming less of a medical calamity and more of a fiscal liability.
The gap is filled by the government, private sector, households and non-governmental organisations.
PAY SH20,000
She
noted that the government pays at least Sh20,000 for one person’s ARV
treatment for a year, saying the introduction of NHIF cover will greatly
reduce the cost.
In Kenya’s
strategic framework, it had envisioned that in 2019, it will have
increased its domestic financing for HIV to 50 per cent.
By
2013, the country had set aside Sh1.5 billion, which increased to Sh2.6
billion in 2015. In 2016/2017, the government set aside Sh2.8 billion.
Ms
Hellen Magutu, Kenya programme co-ordinator HIV/AIDS at the
International Labour Organisation, said anti-retroviral treatment is
lifelong; no country should depend on donor funding.
“Transition
of countries towards domestic funding is a critical area. Kenya needs
to do the same. It needs to be done in a partnership mode involving
donors, national governments, the private sector and civil society,” she
said.
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