•The World Health Organization in 2015 issued global guidelines recommending treatment for all people with HIV as soon as possible after diagnosis.
•Children and adolescents also have poor suppression levels of 75 per cent, while at least nine in every ten Kenyan adults on treatment are fully suppressed.
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Thousands of Kenyan children with HIV are not taking ARVs, despite the dangers of untreated virus.
The Ministry of Health said currently, only 85 per cent of children and adolescents living with HIV are on treatment.
The World Health Organization in 2015 issued global guidelines recommending treatment for all people with HIV as soon as possible after diagnosis.
This ‘treat all’ approach applies to adults and children.
At least 95 per cent of all adults with HIV are already on treatment.
“Once a child has acquired HIV, without the appropriate care and treatment, about a third of these children die by their first birthday, 50 per cent by the age two years and 80 per cent by five years,” said Christine Awuor, a programme officer with the National Aids and STIs Control Programme, a department of the Ministry of Health.
Children and adolescents also have poor suppression levels of 75 per cent because of poor adherence to treatment.
On the other hand, at least nine in every 10 Kenyan adults on treatment are fully suppressed.
Fully suppressed virus is undetectable, which means that it is less able to attack immune system cells and there will be less damage to the immune system.
“Timely testing and treatment of children who are HIV infected is critical to prevent them from deteriorating to Aids and dying,” Awuor told journalists at a meeting organised by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture in Kenya (MESHA) association.
People living with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load also have no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner.
Dr Caren Mburu, a paediatrician and senior technical adviser for adolescent and paediatric services at Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Aids Foundation, said the situation is not unique to Kenya.
She said globally children account for only four per cent of people living with HIV yet contribute to 15 per cent of all HIV-related deaths.
She attributed the low treatment levels to multiple reasons including distances to health facilities. Stigma and fear also prevent carers from bringing their children to clinics for HIV testing and treatment.
“Treatment is difficult to administer for children, and it is also difficult to get the right dosing for children,” she added.
Currently, most Kenyan children who die of untreated HIV succumb to pneumonia (33 per cent), malaria (29 per cent), malnutrition (21 per cent), and sepsis (17 per cent).
According to the 2023 HIV estimates, Kenya has 68,000 children of up to 14 years living with HIV.
Of these, only 57,867 are on ARVs.
There are 145,142 youths 15-24 years living with the virus.
In Kenya, HIV-infected pregnant women should receive prevention of mother-to-child transmission services from the first antenatal care visit up until 18 months after delivery or later.
Without any intervention, between 15 per cent and 45 per cent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers are likely to become infected.
However, the risk of infection reduces to less than one per cent if infected parents who take ARV drugs as prescribed throughout pregnancy and childbirth, have a suppressed viral load and give HIV preventive medicine to babies after birth.
Cases of mothers interrupting their treatment or not take ARV drugs during pregnancy and breastfeeding are the biggest contributors to babies getting infected.