KENYA – Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged governments to raise their Global Fund financial contributions for the adequate resources needed to boost the global fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis fever (TB) and malaria.

The Global Fund is a partnership organization founded in 2002 designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics.

It is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases that raises and invests nearly US$4 billion yearly to support programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the Global Fund’s 7th replenishment cycle at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri County, President Uhuru said Kenya has managed to lower her annual AIDS-related deaths by 67% between 2013 and 2021 with assistance of the entity.

The performance reflects an increase of 83 percent in the number of people living with HIV that are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment from 0.66 million people in 2013 to 1.2 million people in 2021.

On TB, Kenya has achieved a treatment success rate of 85 percent and a significant decline in the annual TB prevalence.

Similarly, the Global Fund’s assistance has helped Kenya to lower her malaria burden from a prevalence of 8.2 percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent in 2020.

The kitty’s seventh replenishment cycle which will be hosted by the United States Government later in the year comes at a time when economies are battling COVID-19 hence the need for global solidarity in the fight against the world’s health challenges.

“In the 6th replenishment cycle, my administration contributed US$6 million and we plan to enhance our commitment for the 7th replenishment cycle in support of the Global Fund,” the President said.

He further said that increased investment in strong community health systems is needed now more than ever before if governments are to tackle both prevailing and emerging diseases.

Kenya’s partnership with the Global Fund has helped the country to establish strong community health systems that are key in the prevention and management of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

The President commended the Global Fund for supporting Kenya’s efforts to combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria adding that the entity had disbursed over US$1.4 billion in grants to Kenya’s health sector from 2002 to date

“These grants have supplemented Kenya’s efforts to address the three diseases of global concern while strengthening our health service delivery, infrastructure and community systems,” confirmed President Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta also spoke about the progress made in the fight against malaria on the continent during his tenure as the Chairperson of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) saying the initiative was being slowed down by inadequate funding.

Kenya’s First Lady champions for investments in Africa’s maternal and child health

Meanwhile, Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has advocated for Africa’s reproductive, maternal, adolescent and child health systems with private-public partnerships and collective investments as viable options for raising resources.

The First Lady rallied global financiers to back Africa’s week maternal and child health systems overstretched by societal challenges such as Female Genital Mutilation, Gender Based Violence, teenage pregnancies and early marriages.

Using the example of her Beyond Zero initiative, the First Lady said the organization leverages on partnerships to deliver transformative health interventions.

“Through partnerships and fundraising platforms such as the Beyond Zero marathon, the organization was able to pool adequate resources for the supply of mobile medical clinics to all of Kenya’s 47 counties,” she said.

In addition to the mobile clinics, Beyond Zero rolled out the medical safari initiative so as to enhance access to health services by vulnerable communities in support of Kenya’s universal health coverage agenda.

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