Inter Press Service - November 27, 2002
Katy Salmon

The number of children orphaned by AIDS is expected to double by the end of the decade.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has devastated Kenya. Today, almost every Kenyan is either looking after an AIDS orphan or knows someone who is.

Unicef describes this as "a national crisis" and is urging politicians to formulate policies to deal with it.

"There is no choice, only an imperative. Parliamentary candidates must address this issue as a matter of urgency and dedicate official time to their plight once they are elected," says Unicef Kenya representative Nicholas Alipui.

The stigma surround HIV/AIDS only worsens the suffering of these children, many of whom end up begging and sleeping rough on city streets. Their future is bleak -- traumatised by their parents' deaths, destitute, uneducated and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

"If crime and violence become their survival strategies this will have serious implications for Kenyan lives and livelihoods," says Alipui.

Unicef argues that it is up to Kenya's political leaders to bring these marginalised children back into society.

"We need official support to stand behind these children and break that stigma which is one of the things that is causing psychological damage to these children," says Alipui.

"We need to find a way of taking those that are on drugs, sniffing glue, that you see on the streets, off the streets, de-intoxicate them rehabilitate them and make them go to school. This requires a social movement that must be led by politicians who claim that they want to lead the nation," he urges.

"Is this part of your political agenda? And if so are you willing to rise to the occasion and do the things that matter for these children?" he asks.

Unicef's 'Call to Action' brochure is being distributed to all political candidates, emphasising the need for free education for AIDS orphans and funding to support those caring for them. The 'Call to Action' also calls for legislation outlawing discrimination and exploitation of orphans, in particular losing their family property, which is a common problem.

Unicef's campaign is further evidence that attention is shifting from preventative education to ensuring that those infected with, and affected by, the disease are taken care of. Kenya's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has stabilised, falling from 13 to 12 percent this year.

The problem of AIDS orphans is emerging as the biggest social crisis facing East Africa.

Neighbouring Uganda has been hailed as a role-model in Africa for its success in reducing its HIV/AIDS prevalence rate from 30 to 5 percent. But Uganda has even more AIDS orphans totalling almost 2 million.

The most vulnerable children are those who are themselves infected with HIV/AIDS, usually through parent-to-child-transmission.

All three East African countries have been running pilot schemes giving free doses of the drug Nevirapine to HIV-positive women and their new born babies. This cuts the parent-to-child transmission rate by almost half.

Kenya and Uganda are now extending these schemes nation-wide. Not only do they lessen the number of children infected with HIV/AIDS, such pre- and post-natal treatment is also a way of diagnosing HIV infected women relatively early in their illness.

"It's an opportunity to build-in care to prevent infections, to conserve their weight and to help them address the issues they need to address as HIV infected individuals," says Ruth Nduati, an HIV/AIDS researcher in Nairobi.

Nduati would also like these HIV-positive mothers to receive anti-retroviral drugs and long-term care so that they can live long enough to raise their children.

"This package is something that is coming on board and needs to be embraced. It should be put on the ground over the next year," she predicts.

Greater access to anti-retroviral drugs would save thousands of parents from an early grave.

The price of anti-retrovirals has fallen from 1000 U.S. dollars to 40 U.S. dollars a month over the last three years.

Kenya also has passed legislation allowing it to import cheaper, generic versions of the drugs. But these drugs are not yet on the market because the Ministry of Health has not registered them.

"We are now seeing the queuing up of reputable molecules from different drug companies at the registration board with unexplained and very inexcusable delays," says Chris Ouma of Action Aid.

"If we are serious about trying to do something about this problem, one of the biggest priorities would be to register different drugs in order to bring about competition and bring the prices down," he says.

Ouma alleges that corruption at Kenya's Ministry of Health could be to blame. "The whole system for drug registration is skewed in such a way that there can be artificial blocks that induce money to exchange hands," he says.

"We have no proof but we know that different companies with the same kind of application can have drugs processed and registered in three weeks. Others have been queuing for two years and there is hardly any difference within the application," he says.

Only 6,000 of Kenya's two and a half million HIV-positive people are currently taking anti-retroviral drugs.

A few private sector companies, like Coca Cola and Standard Chartered Bank, have started providing free medical care and anti-retroviral drugs to their HIV-positive employees. Activists are pushing for other companies to follow suit.(END/IPS/AF/HE/KS/MN/02)

021127
IP021122

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2002. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .