Kenya Insights

Tag: ARVs

  • Kenya To Start Manufacturing ARVs Locally

    Kenya To Start Manufacturing ARVs Locally

    Kenya is gearing up to initiate local manufacturing of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, aiming to supply both its domestic needs and potentially the global market.

    This development comes at a crucial time, following the uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent 90-day pause on foreign aid, which could impact funding for programs like PEPFAR, a major financier of Kenya’s HIV initiatives.

    Director General for Health, Patrick Amoth, has expressed the government’s intent to explore new funding avenues to support this venture. “We have a local manufacturing plant for ARVs but need approvals to work with regulatory bodies to enable manufacturing not only for local but also global markets,” Dr. Amoth stated. This initiative aligns with broader goals to achieve what Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Barasa described on social media platform X as “Maturity Level 3 stability,” essential for enhancing the exportation of locally manufactured health products.

    The stakes are particularly high for Kenya’s 1.3 million HIV-positive individuals, including nearly 890,000 women and 71,000 children under 14. With 97% of registered cases currently on antiretroviral therapy, achieving high viral suppression rates is critical. However, the country’s heavy reliance on external funding – which accounted for about 63.5% of the HIV program’s budget in 2021-2022 – underscores the urgency of this local production effort.

    This isn’t Kenya’s first foray into local drug manufacturing. In 2019, plans were announced for a facility to treat 300,000 patients, aiming to cut the annual HIV medication budget from Sh38 billion while also manufacturing drugs for malaria and tuberculosis. However, the progress of this initiative has been opaque, with ministry officials not available for comment on its current status.

    The path to local ARV production is fraught with challenges. A 2023 study by The Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS highlighted several barriers, including weak policy frameworks, inadequate infrastructure, limited financial resources, and insufficient political support. The study also pointed out the complexities in maintaining WHO manufacturing standards, especially when sourcing from less regulated markets like India.

    The Kenyan government’s efforts have been criticized for lacking consistent political will, with policies often working at cross-purposes, thus complicating local manufacturers’ participation in the market. “The landscape for sustainable, resilient local production of ARVs in Kenya is not promising at the moment,” the study concluded, despite the availability of expertise and lessons from the Covid-19 response.

    Moreover, researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Institute have warned that without robust contingency plans, Kenya’s progress towards its “95-95-95” HIV/AIDS targets by 2030 could falter. These targets aim for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of those diagnosed to receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of those treated to achieve viral suppression.

    To move forward, collaboration with international bodies like the World Health Organization, and local regulatory agencies such as the Pharmacy and Poisons Board Kenya, will be vital in ensuring that locally produced ARVs meet global standards.

    As Kenya navigates these challenges, the success of local ARV manufacturing will not only be a test of its health infrastructure but also of its resolve to reduce dependency on foreign aid and foster a self-sustaining health sector.

  • Kenya Has Sufficient ARVs For HIV Patients, Govt Assures Amid Aid Freeze

    Kenya Has Sufficient ARVs For HIV Patients, Govt Assures Amid Aid Freeze

    Health Director General at the Ministry of Health Patrick Amoth has assured that Kenya is well-prepared to address any occurrences arising from events beyond control, such as the recent freeze on US-funded HIV medications.

    Addressing the media on Wednesday, Amoth acknowledged the numerous executive orders issued by US President Donald Trump, particularly those related to health, and their impact on Kenya’s healthcare programs

    “We are cognizant of the information coming from the US government, but I want to assure Kenyans that we have sufficient stocks of HIV commodities,” he said.

    “We have strengthened our supply chain in the last two years to ensure at any given time we have more than six months of stocks.”

    Amoth noted that the country has made significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, largely supported by global initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

    He stated that out of the estimated 1,377,784 people living with HIV, 1,352,657 (98 per cent) know their status, have been diagnosed, and are accessing treatment.

    Additionally, 1,299,330 (94 per cent) of those on treatment have achieved viral suppression, highlighting the success of effective collaboration where Kenya is achieving the 95:95:95 targets.

    He warned of potential disruptions, including interruptions in HIV treatment for thousands, increased risks of drug resistance and a possible rise in mother-to-child transmission.

    The Ministry of Health has managed to reduce mother-to-child transmission from as high as 15 per cent ten years ago to the current 7.1 per cent, just shy of the elimination target of five per cent.

    Amoth acknowledged that the freeze on US-funded HIV medications and the cessation of technical assistance threaten to disrupt years of progress made in controlling the HIV epidemic.

    “This poses a risk to the continued treatment of thousands of Kenyans, potentially leading to drug resistance and an increase in mother-to-child transmission,” he said.

    In response to these challenges, Kenya is taking proactive measures to mitigate the negative effects and ensure the continuity of healthcare services.

    “The Ministry of Health is actively engaging with other development partners, international agencies, and private sector stakeholders to secure alternative resources and fill gaps in the supply of essential medicines,” Amoth said.

    He also stressed the importance of regional and global solidarity to support health financing, ensuring that critical healthcare services continue to reach those in need.

    Trump’s announcement of the withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the freezing of foreign aid, including support for critical programs like PEPFAR, marks a pivotal moment with far-reaching consequences for countries around the world, including Kenya.

  • A Kenyan Researcher In Team That Has Discovered A New Drug That Can Cure HIV

    A Kenyan Researcher In Team That Has Discovered A New Drug That Can Cure HIV

    Yes, HIV can be cured. A team of scientists have discovered a new drug can can cure the almost immortal virus.

    Big win for the country it has been revealed that a Kenyan scientist, Dr. Benson Edagwa, was amongst the team of researchers who have discovered the new HIV drug.

    The collaborative effort of the researchers has for the first time inched closer to finding a cure for HIV after successfully eliminating the virus in living mice.

    Dr Benson Edagwa, an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre (UNMC) and researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, used a combination of a modified ARV treatment to keep the virus at low activity levels, along with a powerful gene-editing technique that snipped out HIV genes from infected cells.

    WHO estimated that 19.6 million people in East and Southern Africa are living with HIV.

    According to WHO, 2.5 million Kenyans are living with HIV with about 380,000 recorded deaths.

    If HIV is not treated, it can turn into Aids, a disease in which the virus badly damages the immune system.

    In a study involving 29 mice, in some of the animals the team used a combination of gene-editing technology (CRISPR) and a therapeutic treatment called LASER ART to erase HIV DNA from the genomes of animals in what they termed as unprecedented study.

    The team published their research yesterday, Tuesday, in the journal Nature Communications.

    The scientists found no trace of the virus in 30 per cent of the animals used in the tests.

    “This observation is the first step toward showing for the first time, to my knowledge, that HIV is a curable disease,” said Kamel Khalili,

    Kamel Khalili is the director of the Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Centre at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

    LASER ART has been proven to be effective when released slowly over a long period of time.

    With Laser medication, traditional anti-HIV drugs are tweaked so they develop a crystal structure, and are then encased in fat-soluble particles.

    Laser art enables drugs to slip through the membranes of cells in places where HIV hides like the liver, lymph tissue, and spleen where the cells’ enzymes start to release the drug.

    This not only targets viral sanctuaries but also maintains HIV replication at low levels for extended periods of time, reducing the frequency of ART administration.

    The crystal structure releases the drugs more slowly, allowing them to continue killing dormant viruses as they start to emerge and replicate for months.

    According to Dr. Adagwa, Laser art medication works continuously rather than days or weeks like conventional forms of the medicines.

    It is half a century since the first known HIV-related death and two patients appear to have been cured of the virus.

    Even though ARV treatment can suppress HIV to the point that it has no impact on life expectancy, and even make it untransmittable, the “London patient”, announced earlier this year to have been cured of HIV offers a medical hope of freedom from a virus that over 37 million people worldwide are living with.

    Early last month, Kenya launched a clinical human trial of a vaccine that has the potential to stop HIV infecting cells.

    Scientists involved in the trial, Dr. Edagwa amongst them, said on Friday during final preparatory meetings that recruitment for the trial will begin in the next three weeks.

    The new vaccine being tested will apply a ‘block approach’ in stopping HIV from attaching itself onto cells.

    HIV is a virus that attacks CD4 cells. It is spread through certain body fluids.

    The clinical trial, code-named ‘IAVI W001 trial. 664gp140. W001’, will test the vaccine candidate dubbed BG505 SOSIP — a molecule cloned to look exactly as the HIV one — on Kenyan volunteers to check for safety.

    “We are going to the root cause. We are going after the virus that’s already integrated in the genome of the host cell,” said co-author of the report,Dr Howard Gendelman.

    Dr Howard Gendelman is the chairman of UNMC’s pharmacology and experimental neuroscience department and director of the Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases.

    “We are at the cusp of a scientific revolution in human genomes that can change the course, quality and longevity of life,” reads part of Dr Howard conclusion.