Seek sustainable solution to HIV funding hiccups

On Thursday is World Aids Day, whose theme is zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero deaths. And as Kenya joins the world in commemorating the day, fears are emerging that various HIV programmes may collapse because of lack of funding.

Last week, Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa, were told they are ineligible to apply for Round 11 HIV funds from the Global Fund.

This is sad news for Kenya since various programmes that have helped in reducing the spread of HIV may collapse or be scaled down.

These include provision of antiretroviral drugs, prevention of mother-to-child infections, voluntary counselling and testing services and male circumcision.

Donor fatigue

The programmes have contributed immensely in the success of the fight against HIV.

The National Aids Control Council (NACC) indicates that only 500,000 persons living with HIV have access to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, against the 1.3 million patients.

With donor fatigue setting in, Kenya may not successfully combat the disease. This, therefore, calls for the Government to seek sustainable ways of funding HIV.

NACC is working on a plan to establish a HIV Trust Fund that will eliminate reliance on donors, who have been providing 85 per cent of funds. The proposal is contained in a Cabinet memorandum the institution prepared in March this year.

The memorandum recommends that the Ministry of Finance create a Trust Fund.

Money for the fund would be sourced from government, private sector, levies on airtime and air tickets, remittances from abroad, non-governmental institutions, national lottery system and money from unclaimed financial assets, which is lying idle in banks as a result of death, name change or relocation.

Unfortunately, despite the worrying developments in the funding of HIV, the NACC proposal is still awaiting Cabinet deliberations and approval, nine months since it was presented. The Cabinet needs to prioritise discussion of the document if the country is to sustainably step up the war on HIV.

Kenya may not attain zero new infections and zero deaths resulting from HIV by 2015 if we continue to rely on donor funding. Besides the Trust Fund, the health insurance fund ought to be revamped to finance ARV therapy and treatment of opportunistic infections.