The fight against HIV in marginalised communities in Kenya has taken a major hit after the sector received zero funding last year.
This, according to a new report has left a financing gap of Sh87.85 million ($667,819) to facilitate life-saving interventions in marginalised communities in Kenya, especially among children, adolescents and pregnant and lactating women.
According to a humanitarian situation report by Unicef, the sector received no money in 2023 for critical life-saving and protective interventions for families in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), urban informal settlements and refugee settlements in the country, leaving a gap of 100 percent of the required Sh87.87 million ($667,938)
The report shows that the sector has been using resources carried over from 2022, amounting to Sh15,655 ($119), despite its high prevalence, which requires immediate intervention. The Unicef Kenya’s humanitarian response against the humanitarian action receives aid from the Government of Japan, the USAid Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), The United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), United States Fund for Unicef, the German Federal Foreign Office, the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German Committee for Unicef, the Unicef Global Thematic Fund and the Central Emergency Response Fund.
The huge funding gap raises concerns that the progress made in the nation's fight against HIV/Aids could be reversed, putting the lives of the more than 1.4 million people living with the disease at risk.
"Diminished HIV resources for the continuity of essential services such as HIV testing among children, capacity building of health workers, HIV return to care and HIV awareness for the affected communities remains the key challenge," the report says.
