The United States Government Donates Life-Saving HIV Medicine

The distribution of life-saving HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment drugs provided by Americans began. These antiretrovirals will be distributed to 2,144 public health facilities across Kenya’s 47 counties. Following agreements between the US and Kenyan administrations, the present deliveries are doable. Antiretrovirals and other medical supplies are being imported, warehoused, and delivered in a timely manner by the two governments.

“The United States has fought HIV/AIDS with Kenyans for decades, and we are pleased of the results,” said Eric Watnik, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., of the US Embassy in Nairobi. “Medicines, equipment, and expertise donated by Americans have improved the lives of a generation of Kenyans and helped to manage the disease. We will continue to collaborate with the Kenyan government to achieve our shared objective of eliminating HIV/AIDS in Kenya.”

The grant will be distributed by the US government’s development agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Health. Approximately 300,000 packs of 90-day doses of Tenofovir/Lamivudine/Dolutegravir and 4,400 packs of 30-day supplies of Atazanavir/Ritonavir are included in the current donation.

The two governments are motivated to seek a long-term solution for continuous supplies of health commodities supplied by the United States, including building processes that will improve accountability. The US and Kenya will work together to improve and strengthen Kenya’s public health supply chain, as well as to adopt comprehensive internal and external controls, to ensure that all Kenyans continue to get life-saving pharmaceuticals in a reliable and transparent manner.

In the meantime, on behalf of USAID and the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, the Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), a Christian not-for-profit organisation registered as a trust of the ecumenical partnership of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Christian Health Association of Kenya, will facilitate distribution.

The United States is Kenya’s top donor for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and it is dedicated to the health and safety of Kenya’s 1.2 million antiretroviral users.

Kenyan Medical Training College Announces New Campus

A new Kenyan Medical Training College (KMTC) Campus is in the works in the Mukurweni Constituency and is expected to be ready by September next year. Phillip Kaloki made a statement confirming the same after visiting the 10-acre space reserved for the college. He was joined by Mukurweini Constituency MP, Mr. Anthony Kiai and planning executive Daniel Kwai. This move comes in response to the country’s growing need for medical products and infrastructure.

“This will be the third KMTC campus in the county and we hope it will be completed by September next year so we can have our first intake. This will improve health services,” Kaloki said yesterday.

This project will mark KMTC’s 66th campus in Kenya. It has been an initiative of the Mukurweini MP and the county government, who will be stakeholders in the project. Mr. Kiai revealed that the Constituency Development Fund will contribute Sh20 million towards expenses.

“There will be an initial seed capital of Sh20 million from CDF. Other than land, county government has also pledged an additional Sh20 million as we start construction works,” he said. Kwai said. The Mukurweini  Central Ward has also given its full backing to the project as it is expected to generate a significant number of jobs in the area. The College will be expected to enroll around 200 students initially across a variety of programmes like nursing, orthopedics, pediatrics etc.

“We hope to grow the campus until it has a population of up to 1000 students. We will continue to be keen on quality considering 85 per cent of health professionals in Kenya have trained at KMTC,” Kaloki said. Two other campuses are under construction in Kirinyaga and Narok. There are plans to ensure each county has a KMTC campus.