The Cabinet Secretary of Health, Debra Mulongo Barasa has alleged that Kenya risks having 58,495 new HIV infections by 2030 if donor funding is reduced or cut off. This comes at a time when there is dilemma in USAID funding that has been supporting Kenya at large.
The Ministry of Health has now urged the County governments to set aside funds to aid the transition from donor-funded programmes. The switch came after US President Donald Trump charged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) expenditure is unexplainable and threatened to shut it down. The Ministry of Health is now preparing the County Governments to rise to the occasion and fill the gap that will be left by withdrawal of USAID.
About1.4 million Kenyans live with HIV and are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), while Tuberculosis (TB) contributes to 23,500 annual mortalities among them 20,000 attributed to HIV.
According to Health Cabinet Secretary Debora Barasa, malaria contributes to 12,000 deaths per year (2022) with a projected increase due to climate change, while some 6.2 million rely on Family Planning annually with 40 per cent still unreached.
Honorable Debra Barasa while making a presentation during the first health summit of the year yesterday, noted that vaccine coverage currently stands at 77 per cent, adding that the programme is currently under transition from donor to government funding.
The CS further explained that, the Global fight against HIV, TB, and malaria, is mainly supported by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) under USAID, Global Fund, and United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAids) all deriving significant funds from US government.
She further stated that, Kenya depends heavily on the donors for their support and the country now stands a chance of losing Sh30.9 billion donor-funded healthcare programmes which consist of human resources for health Sh5.8 billion per annum, Health products and Technologies (HIV, TB and Malaria) at Sh12.6 billion while other health products and technologies –Oxygen, laboratory, cervical cancer and Covid-19 is Sh3.7 billion.
It is now high time that the government of Kenya through the Ministry of Health, should rise to the occasion and think outside the box. The country should look for ways and mechanisms that it will use to start depending on itself with proper planning and adequate use of allocated resources with proper accountability.
