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Weekly Bulletin

Edition 32:11th - 17th August 2019 
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Time to Remind Parliamentarians of the Need to Increase Domestic Financing for Health and HIV. 

 
       
Ms. Sicily Kariuki, CS Health                                              

Kenya needs to increase its internal HIV and health investment to deliver on the 90.90.90 HIV treatment targets by next year and achieve the universal health coverage (UHC) goals by 2022. The need for domestic resource allocation to HIV and health became more apparent last week after the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) reportedly turned down the request by the Health Cabinet Secretary Ms. Sicily Kariuki’s (pictured above) for a six-month extension for blood services. As we pointed out in the past issues of this Bulletin only domestic resources can guarantee that HIV is responded to in a predictable and sustainable manner. We had strongly brought in the need for increased HIV investment by the Kenya government the moment we realized that the PEPFAR COP 2019 was very unusual. See the NEPHAK March issue of the Bulletin: https://mailchi.mp/27292aeb7fbb/edition-9-nephak-weekly-bulletin-3rd-march-2019.

Although PEPFAR remains the cornerstone of US global health assistance, which supports HIV treatment, testing and counseling for millions of people worldwide, it has of late stated that for countries to achieve epidemic control, they will need to do more in financing their HIV programs. The PEPFAR teams, during the COP 2019 negotiations were very categorical on what they will and what they won’t put money on. Therefore, instead of sitting back and waiting for support from the PEPFAR and other partners, the Kenya Ministry of Health need to reach out to the Parliamentary Committee on Health and such structures to ensure that budget allocation covers essential services, including blood services. 

Now that PEPFAR has communicated that they won’t support the blood services under the COP 2019, the management, including the screening of blood is expected to suffer. According to Bloodlink, “
the 18 national testing laboratories sites in the country have run out of the automated screening reagent — Abbott 800 — which means we are running a manual platform which has slowed down blood screening in hospitals.” The funding hitch comes at a time the country is facing a chronic shortage of blood since the collection of blood has been plagued by lack of funds for screening tools and human resources to collect and store blood.

Going by the latest communication from the US media, those solely relying on the US government to undertake any business better think twice. The country is reviewing its aid package to countries. It is no longer guaranteed that the American government will stand with countries in responding to epidemics such as HIV and related co-infections and comorbidities. As such, only increased investment by countries facing health challenges will be a sure way to prevent, treat and manage these diseases. For additional information regarding US government funding, see:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/us/politics/foreign-aid-freeze-congress.html

Meanwhile, the focus on PEPFAR in Kenya was last week renewed after a team from the PEPFAR headquarters visited the country and held meetings with various stakeholders, including people living with, at risk of and those affected with HIV. In the consultations, only two key areas were not tackled. It is not clear whether PEPFAR COP 2019 has been approved and it is not clear the progress made with the commitment for 70% USG Funding Transition to local indigenous organizations by 2020. It is our hope that as the PEPFAR team continues to engage CSOs and communities this week, these two areas shall be clarified. 

 

Here’s How Much the U=U Movement Has Grown in Three Years.


Since the U=U initiative launched three years ago this month, 886 groups spanning nearly 100 countries have joined the fast-growing movement. On the anniversary, the Prevention Access Campaign (PAC), which founded U=U, issued a call to action to global HIV stakeholders, asking them to make four specific commitments that will further promote U=U, fight HIV stigma and help end the epidemic. In Kenya, the U=U Campaign has only been hard and is well understood among the PLHIV leadership who attend international conferences and have links with the global community. We share this piece from the POZ magazine here to sensitize NEPHAK members and the Kenya PLHIV community on the growing partnership around U=U. 

U=U, or Undetectable Equals Untransmittable, refers to the fact that people with HIV who take Antiretrovirals and maintain an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus sexually. To continue getting the word out about U=U, PAC seeks HIV leaders to make new commitments. A PAC press release spells out these four:
1) Increase the reach and availability of public health information on U=U, especially among communities affected most by HIV;
2) Integrate U=U into grant-making priorities;
3) Leverage U=U as a public health argument in advocacy for universal access to treatment and service;
4) Hold government leaders accountable for ensuring that U=U is clearly communicated and included in national HIV programs. 

When we launched U=U, most international health bodies and advocacy organizations were not ready to publicly acknowledge it,” said PAC founder Bruce Richman in the press release. “Some persistently and aggressively fought us. Over the course of the past three years, that has changed, reminding us of what is possible when passionate people join together to demand accurate and meaningful information about our social, sexual and reproductive health.”

PAC’s call to action also coincided with the 10th annual International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science. To read about the latest findings from the conference, held in Mexico City, click #IAS 2019. For background on the progress made since U=U launched in June 2016, including data that support the U=U message, read the complete PAC press release. For a list of all the organizations that have signed the U=U consensus statement, click here. And to read POZ’s March 2019 cover story on U=U (pictured above), click here; for the entire contents of that issue, much of which is related to U=U, click here. For related POZ news, see “How Well Do U=U and PrEP Work? The CDC Updates Its Answers” and “What a U=U Leader Thinks About the CDC’s Updated Data on HIV Risk.”

 

We also lost Dr. Sobbie Mulindi to Cancer. 


The Late Dr. Sobbie Mulindi, former Deputy Director, NACC in past photo.
And in the last week, we lost another Kenyan to Cancer. We lost Dr. Sobbie Mulindi who was a former Deputy Director of the National Aids Control Council (2008-2014) and a senior lecturer in the psychiatry department of the University of Nairobi. He was 70 years old. Dr. Sobbie adds on to the list of prominent Kenyans who have succumbed to Cancer in just a span of weeks. While we are aware many Kenyans are succumbing to Cancer, the country has lost a number of prominent people to cancer including Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore, Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso and Kibra Member of Parliament Ken Okoth. 

A man of utter simplicity, Dr. Mulindi fitted very well within multi-sectoral partnership put in place to respond to HIV and AIDS. He would be with the faith sector leaders in the morning, communities affected by AIDS in the afternoon and the private sector in the evening. Among the NEPHAK membership and the PLHIV community, Dr. Mulindi will be remembered for having easily understood the reason why the HIV response must involve those infected and affected with the diseases in health programming. He very well internationalized the Principle of the Greater and Meaningful Involvement of people living with HIV in the AIDS response. He was in fact a champion of community engagement in the response to HIV. Rest in Peace Dr. Sobbie Mulindi.

As we stated in the last week’s issue of the NEPHAK Bulletin, mailchi.mp/be073df25bf6/e… the country will need to do more and do it now to save the citizens from cancer and other diseases. We repeat: Defeating Cancer will require genuine leadership from the Kenya Government. Kenya needs genuine and focused leadership to transform the health and wellbeing of citizens. Investment is required and undue emphasis on curative health should be re-considered. Kenya needs to increase investment in the health sector so as to strengthen the health systems. Here, we are emphasizing primary health care. It is only through strong primary health care systems that the goals of universal health coverage systems will be achieved. The Kenya government and the Ministry of Health need to re-look at the current arrangements within the health sector and take necessary action to ensure that the sector works for Kenyans.
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NEPHAK Weekly Bulletin is published by the Advocacy and Communications Office at the NEPHAK National Secretariat. Articles can be reproduced freely as long as NEPHAK is acknowledged. Further details can be obtained from The Editor Tel: 0720209694, Email:info@nephak.or.ke, Website: www.nephak.or.ke, Tweet us: @NEPHAKKENYA

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