Consistent availability of HIV testing kits in health facilities is the biggest huddle that Kenya has to jump in order to realise government’s ambitious plan to end AIDS in children in the next three years.
Although the government has made significant progress in ensuring the kits are available and accessible to the public, inconsistent availability in prevention of mother to child transmission has been a cause of concern for health workers, civil society and other stakeholders.
In a stock taking meeting held two weeks, the ministry of health highlighted the problem as a key contributor to the spike in mother to child transmission rates from 8.3 % in 2016 to 10 % in 2021 and 8.6 % in 2022.
“Key policy challenge with regard to HIV testing for pregnant and breastfeeding women is inconsistent availability of HIV testing kits and legal tussle between the nurses and laboratory technologists on bedside testing mandate,” says the ministry in a brochure on ending AIDS in children published by National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP).
Under the country plan to end AIDs in children by 2027, the ministry of health under the leadership of NASCOP has now committed to end the inconsistency in the supply of the kits.
“Through the support of the Global Fund, PEPFAR, UN, Kenya Red Cross, PATH, Communities and other partners, we are starting a country wide rapid result initiative to bridge the gaps and accelerate progress in ending AIDS among children,” said Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Susan Nakhumicha when she launched the country plan to end aids in children by 2027.
The cabinet secretary said her ministry is working to close all supply chain weaknesses.
“We are working to close all the bottlenecks in diagnostic systems, commodity security and health workforce. To succeed, we will advocate for and provide incremental and ring-fenced domestic resources to assure commodity security for this agenda,” said Nakhumicha.
She said the ministry will adopt and scale up effective technology and innovations for diagnosis, treatment and support and also build the capacity of human resources for health to deliver the agenda.
In a Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) to be implemented in counties with high infection rate among children, the government says it will reduce missed opportunities by 95% in service delivery for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Children and Adolescents with HIV (CALHIV).
Services under the RRI focus will include maternal HIV testing, infant prophylaxis, maternal, children and adolescents anti-retroviral antiretroviral treatment. Other services where the NASCOP is seeking to reduce missed opportunities are early infant diagnosis as well as viral load monitoring and suppression.
According to the brochure shared by NASCOP during the stock taking workshop held in Homa Bay two weeks ago, persistent delay in HIV diagnosis, antiretroviral treatment initiation and suboptimal adherence during pregnancy and breastfeeding may have resulted in over 4500 infants acquiring HIV in 2022.
