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AIDS-related deaths on the decline in Kenya

National Aids Control Council, Director, John Kamigwi attributes the drop to male circumcision, increased awareness and testing, expansion of health services and increased funding/FILE

National Aids Control Council, Director, John Kamigwi attributes the drop to male circumcision, increased awareness and testing, expansion of health services and increased funding/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 28- AIDS related mortality has dropped from 130,000 deaths annually in 2010 to 49,126 in 2013 in Kenya.

National Aids Control Council, Director, John Kamigwi attributes the drop to male circumcision, increased awareness and testing, expansion of health services and increased funding both domestic and international.

“With prioritisation of prevention strategies focusing on the key drivers of new infections among the adult and the children in our population we are confident that a new generation free of HIV and AIDS is in our sights,” he said.

“We must now focus our efforts with a new strategic plan. A plan I believe will revolutionise the AIDS response in the country.”

Speaking at the Kenya National Aids Strategic plan review, UNAIDS County Director, Mary Harper, said that better strategies should be made in order to get the HIV prevalence to beyond zero.

Harper emphasised the need of expansion of treatment to both county and national levels to reduce HIV related deaths.

“To choose antenatal care for women, to have delivery of children in health facilities as long as good quality public services are absent from slums in urban areas, as long as those means and that access isn’t available we won’t make progress on the epidemic,” she said.

“Prevention of mother to child transmission while making great strides since 2011 has proved unyielding despite our considerable collective commitment. New Adult HIV infections have decrease only 18 percent despite our efforts.”

“If we keep expanding treatment at the same time as having a great number of new infections we are creating an unserviceable debt for the future.”

Based on 2010 World Health Organisation guidelines to initiate antiretroviral, Kenya has achieved ARV treatment coverage of 81 percent countrywide.

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