The government through the Ministry of Health has assured Kenyan that the HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs will not be disrupted following US President Donald Trump’s suspension of global health aid.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, the Director General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth disclosed that the ministry is engaging with other development partners and investing in local pharmaceutical manufacturing to prevent treatment disruptions.
To ensure continued access to lifesaving medication for people living with HIV, Amoth further stated that the ministry is also strengthening regional collaborations and alternative health financing mechanisms.
“Kenya has made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, with 98% of people living with HIV aware of their status and on treatment, and 94% achieving viral suppression. The Ministry is actively engaging with other development partners and investing in local pharmaceutical manufacturing to prevent treatment disruptions,” Amoth stated.
“The Ministry is also strengthening regional collaborations and alternative health financing mechanisms to ensure continued access to lifesaving medications and healthcare services for people living with HIV.”
HIV treatment funding
On January 29, 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged the US president to reconsider his decision to cut down the funding of HIV treatment in developing countries.
“A funding halt for HIV programmes can put people living with HIV at immediate increased risk of illness and death and undermine efforts to prevent transmission in communities and countries. Such measures, if prolonged, could lead to rises in new infections and deaths, reversing decades of progress and potentially taking the world back to the 1980s and 1990s when millions died of HIV every year globally, including many in the United States of America,” WHO stated.
“We call on the Government of the United States of America to enable additional exemptions to ensure the delivery of lifesaving HIV treatment and care.”
Trump, on his first day in office on Monday, January 20, 2025, signed executive orders temporarily suspending all foreign assistance for a period of 90 days pending reviews.
The suspended foreign aid includes the supply of lifesaving drugs for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis in countries supported by US-AID.
A memo sent to contractors and partners working with US-AID instructed them to stop work immediately, as part of a broader freeze on US aid and funding that began after Trump’s inauguration.
This signals the end of the life-saving PEPFAR program, a casualty of the new order from Washington. PEPFAR has been crucial in saving lives and preventing millions of HIV infections.
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