Kenya has received Ksh 59.7 billion (USD 407,989,068) in Global Fund grants to support HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria interventions, as well as to build healthcare and community systems.
According Ministry of Health Global Fund, t funding will be used in the HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria health project for a three-year period (July 2024 to June 2027).
“Since 2003, the Global Fund support has helped the country achieve tremendous outcomes,” stated the press release.
The Global Fund is an organization that works with governments, civic society, the private sector, and people impacted by diseases to expedite the end of the AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria epidemics around the world.
In Kenya, the Global Fund works with government officials, civil society organizations, the private sector, and people living with the diseases HIV, TB and those affected with Malaria to make funding requests to the Global Fund and oversee program execution.
A total of USD 232,580,654 will be granted to HIV, with a malaria grant of USD 72,934,665, a TB grant of USD 67,785,529, and a health system improvement grant of USD 34,688,220.
The Global Fund’s achievements so far include the procurement of commodities such as antiretrovirals (ARVs), HIV test kits, condoms, and laboratory reagents to aid in the battle against HIV. They have also sponsored programmatic interventions at both the health-care and community levels.
HIV new infections in the country have decreased by 78 percent. Aside from that, HIV-related mortality and mother-to-child transitions have dropped by 68 percent and 65 percent, respectively.
“The result of the significant reductions of HIV cases are as a result of increased access to HIV testing, treatment and prevention services at the community and facility levels,”
Approximately 1.4 million people living with HIV are now receiving lifesaving treatment at various locations across the country. This is due to the decentralization of HIV services through collaboration among the government, development partners, non-state actors, stakeholders, counties, and communities.
The TB treatment program has also achieved exceptional success, with an 86 percent success rate. TB cases have decreased from 7.35 percent in 2021 to 5.6 percent in March 2024, indicating a positive rate among TB presumptive cases. The number of people tested has doubled, from 245,902 in 2021 to 502,970 in March 2024.
The Global Fund’s cooperation with the Kenyan government has resulted in the provision of support for the development of 1,933 community health units, training of 18,500 community health promoters CHPS, and 3,700 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs).
The malaria initiative has also helped to reduce the overall number of malaria cases in Kenya. The country’s malaria prevalence has decreased from 8.2 percent in 2015 to 6 percent in 2023.
The Global Fund has also funded $9.5 million in the construction, equipping, and digitization of KEMSA’s National Supply Chain Centre. The investment will provide an enhanced supply chain, supported service delivery at Primary Health Care, and appropriate storage to better responses to pandemics and emergencies caused by climate change.
“The new Global Fund grant will help to provide effective care and prevention services to all people living with tuberculosis, leprosy, and lung disorders in the country,”
It will also help to achieve Universal Health Coverage through comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, and care. It would also ensure that malaria incidence and mortality rates are reduced by at least 75% by 2027.
The grant will also ensure there is strengthening of Health systems at facility and community level, procurement of TB, Malaria and HIV commodities including medicines, laboratory supplies and test kits, primary health care activities at the community level in line with universal health care agenda and social support and Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) premiums for TB/HIV/Malaria needy patients to access full SHIF benefit package.
