Get child-friendly ARVs
What you need to know:
- A more worrying finding is that of the 106,807 HIV-positive children aged 15 and below in Kenya, only 72,241 are on treatment.
- Needless to say, as these children grow into adults, they are likely to further complicate the war on HIV/Aids.
That Kenya has been ranked the best country in Africa as far as prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission is concerned is good news indeed.
According to the latest data from the National Aids Control Council, the country has lowered its mother-to-child HIV transmission rate to 10 per cent. But experts have cautioned that it is unacceptable to have cases of mother-to-child transmission in this era, given the progress in medical technology.
A more worrying finding is that of the 106,807 HIV-positive children aged 15 and below in Kenya, only 72,241 are on treatment. Needless to say, as these children grow into adults, they are likely to further complicate the war on HIV/Aids.
Sadder still, a World Health Organization (WHO) report released this week indicates that 10 per cent of HIV-positive children in Kenya have developed resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors-based anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). The drugs, which include doravirine, etravirine and rilpivirine, are in wide use across the country.
The report notes that most countries are moving away from these drugs, which are also known as NRTIs, as they are unable to suppress the virus in children. And while the government has announced plans to phase them out in favour of the more child-friendly dolutegravir, it is not clear when the more paediatric-friendly drugs will be made available.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, should move with speed to ensure that these child-friendly drugs are available to prevent further child mortality due to resistance to the drugs that form the country’s primary ARV regimen.
There is also a need to target zero mother-to-child HIV transmissions and to ensure that all HIV-positive children are identified and put on medication. This campaign should be extended to all age groups if the war on HIV/Aids is to be won.
