•This fundraiser, known as the replenishment pledging conference, will take place September 18 to 21 in New York.
• Health PS Susan Mochache noted that since 2002, the Fund has given Kenya grants amounting to more than US$1.8 billion (Sh216.7 billion).
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Kenya has pledged to give close to Sh1 billion to the Global Fund during fundraising in New York next week.
The fund finances the treatment of HIV, malaria and TB in developing countries.
The Global Fund aims to raise Sh18 billion (Sh2.16 trillion) for 2023-25.
The fundraiser, known as the replenishment pledging conference, will take place from September 18 to 21.
Kenya is utilising a Sh53 billion grant from the 2020-22 funding allocation period.
Kenya is both a donor and an implementer of Global Fund-supported programmes. That means its donations are largely symbolic because the money does not leave the country but is simply invested in local programmes supported by the Global Fund.
Speaking in Nairobi with Global Fund grant implementation partners last week, Health PS Susan Mochache said since 2002, the Fund has given Kenya grants of more than US1.8 million.
She said Kenya made great strides between 2013 and 2021 as its HIV programme resulted in a 67 per cent decline in annual Aids-related deaths.
It also resulted in an increase of 83 per cent in the number of people living with HIV who are on antiretroviral treatment. This is an increase from 660,000 people in 2013 to 1.2 million people in 2021.
“With respect to the TB programme, the Government of Kenya has recorded a treatment success rate of 85 per cent and a significant decline in the annual TB incidence,” Mochache said.
She said the malaria programme has contributed to the overall reduction of malaria. The national prevalence declined from 8.2 per cent in 2015 to 5.6 per cent in 2020.
During 6th replenishment conference in October 2019 in Lyon, France, Kenya pledged US$6 million. However, it has only contributed $4 million to date.
The principal recipients of Global Fund grants are the National Treasury, Kenya Red Cross Society and Amref Health Africa. The Ministry of Health implements grants on behalf of the National Treasury through national programmes for the three diseases.
Each disease programme is implemented by a government implementer and an NGO.
The Ministry of Health says about 60 per cent of the grant procures medicines and health products through the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).
In its latest Results Report published this week, the Global Fund said its programmes have reduced new HIV infections among Kenyan women aged 15 to 24 by about 60 per cent.
“We have increased our investments more than fivefold to improve HIV prevention programs for adolescent girls and young women in 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where HIV incidence is high,” the report says.
These countries are Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The results show the Fund is making progress in removing human rights‐related barriers to HIV services, with a mean increase of 0.9 points from baseline on the 0-5 scale.
However, even the top-five scoring countries (Ukraine 3.7, Jamaica 3.5, Botswana 3.3, Senegal 3.1 and Kenya 3.1) are falling short of scores that would represent a comprehensive response at a national level (above 4.0), the fund said.
(Edited by V. Graham)