Andrew Ross
09 October 2015•Update: 09 October 2015
By Andrew Ross
NAIROBI, Kenya
An estimated 150,000 HIV-positive people in Kenya remain unable to avail free anti-retroviral therapy, a senior Kenyan health official said Friday.
New guidelines from the World Health Organization call on all persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS to be put on immediate anti-retroviral treatment despite the state of their immune system.
In Kenya, only persons with a weak immune system are put under the anti-retroviral therapy.
According to Kenya’s Director of Medical Services Doctor Nicholas Muraguri, out of the one million HIV-positive Kenyans, 850,000 people were benefiting from the free anti-retroviral therapy system.
Kenya currently spends around $165 million annually on anti-retroviral therapy.
“Kenya needs $29.1 million annually to provide free anti-retroviral therapy for the remaining 150,000 so as to fully comply with the new World Health Organization guidelines,” Muraguri told Anadolu Agency Friday, adding that Kenya must do it even if it means the country should start manufacturing the medicine locally to lower the cost of acquiring the drugs.
Last month, the Kenyan president said that his country had made “tremendous progress” in reducing HIV prevalence in the country.
“We have initiated more than 800,000 Kenyans on life-long medication, thereby averting half a million deaths,” the Kenyan leader said.
According to the National AIDS Control Council in Kenya, the number of people living with HIV and AIDS reduced from 1.59 million people in 2013 to 1.4 million in 2014.
