Press Release: President Clinton to Visit Kenya to Highlight Collaboration with Government on HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment

The Clinton Foundation will launch the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Initiative to provide treatment to 1,000 children living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya.

President Bill Clinton and Kenyan Minister of Health Charity Ngilu will launch the Clinton Foundation Pediatric HIV/AIDS Initiative in Kenya at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi on Saturday, July 23, 2005. This Initiative, as part of the Foundation’s global goal to have 10,000 children on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) by the end of 2005, will focus on getting an additional 1,000 Kenyan children who are HIV+ on appropriate medications. The effort, carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will effectively double the number of children in the country on ART.

To jumpstart the program, the Clinton Foundation is providing a supply of pediatric formulation antiretroviral medicine (ARVs) that was procured at drastic discounts from the already established partnership with Cipla, a generic drug manufacturer, to the Government of Kenya. These formulations will be channeled through the government’s distribution system and will be available to all sites authorized by the Ministry of Health for delivery to HIV+ children. In addition to the drugs, the Initiative will be supporting clinical training for the relevant healthcare staff. Some of this training has been carried out in collaboration with the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP) and partners.

Beyond the Pediatric Initiative, the Clinton Foundation has also established a Rural Initiative that will bring care and treatment to HIV+ adults living in the vast rural areas of Kenya. This Initiative aims to expand the scope of treatment services to rural, underserved areas building and testing models of service delivery that can be replicated across the country and the world.

In addition, the Clinton Foundation is helping the Government of Kenya procure high quality ARVs and diagnostic testing capability at its negotiated low pricing, as well as more broadly strengthening the capacity of the national laboratory system. These measures will make the Ministry of Health's investments more efficient and effective, thus be able to reach and save more lives.

During his visit, President Clinton will meet with President Mwai Kibaki as well as other senior Government officials and partners involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

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