At the launch in Nairobi of All In, a new global initiative to end the AIDS epidemic among adolescents, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that Kenya will lead by example by increasing domestic resources for the AIDS response and improving HIV prevention, treatment, essential health care and counselling services for adolescents.
President Kenyatta said the AIDS epidemic among adolescents threatened to rob Kenya of the promise of unprecedented growth and change in a context where Kenya has just reached middle-income country status.
He asked the Minister of Education to re-examine the national curriculum to better engage with young people living with HIV and to eliminate stigma and discrimination in schools.
He also asked for access to antiretroviral treatment for children and adolescents living with HIV to be improved rapidly. While 78% of adults living with HIV in Kenya have access to antiretroviral treatment, just 36% of children have access to the life-saving medicines.
The Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, Luiz Loures, who also attending the launch, said that UNAIDS is ready to work with Kenya to support its leadership on preventing new HIV infections among adolescents and ending the AIDS epidemic in Kenya. He emphasized that action has to be accelerated over the next five years if the AIDS epidemic is to be ended by 2030.
“I have directed the ministries of education and health to initiate programmes that will ensure all HIV-positive children are provided with life-saving medication. The issue of children living with HIV not on antiretroviral therapy must be addressed without further delay.”
President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“I am heartened by President Kenyatta’s firm commitment to accelerating Kenya’s AIDS response. Only by fast-tracking our response to HIV over the next five years, will we be able to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.”
Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director.
