Kenya Insights

Tag: HIV

  • FACTBOX – USAID Cuts: Why Trump’s Funding Freeze Threatens Millions Worldwide

    FACTBOX – USAID Cuts: Why Trump’s Funding Freeze Threatens Millions Worldwide

    • Funding freeze raises concerns about future of global programs, including PEPFAR that allegedly saved over 25M lives

    The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is under political scrutiny as the Trump administration considers merging it with the State Department in an effort to streamline federal bureaucracy.

    As the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid, the United States allocated $13.9 billion in 2024, accounting for 42% of all UN-tracked assistance. However, on Jan. 20, the White House announced a freeze on USAID’s budget, citing concerns over misaligned priorities.

    President Donald Trump suspended development assistance for 90 days to evaluate its alignment with his “America First” policy, a move that has sparked concern among global aid organizations.

    A White House statement asserted that USAID’s initiatives “do not align with American interests” and, in some cases, “destabilize world peace.”

    On Feb. 4, USAID announced that all direct-hire personnel, except those in mission-critical roles, would be placed on leave by Feb. 7. Additionally, overseas staff are set to be repatriated within 30 days.

    “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out,” Trump told reporters.

    Meanwhile, on Feb. 3, Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, confirmed his involvement in the decision, stating: “I reviewed it thoroughly with (the president), and he concurred that we should shut it down.”

    What is USAID?

    Founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy under the Foreign Assistance Act, USAID is the US government’s primary agency for international humanitarian and development efforts.

    Its alleged aim is to reduce poverty, combat disease, provide humanitarian aid, and foster economic growth in developing nations, while advancing US foreign policy objectives.

    Operating in over 130 countries, USAID runs more than 60 regional missions and employs over 10,000 staff, with two-thirds based overseas.

    Most of its programs are executed through grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts with nonprofit organizations, universities, international groups, and foreign governments.

    How much is USAID’s budget and where does it go?

    In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023), the latest data existing, USAID-managed combined fund had a budget of over $40 billion, making up more than one-third of the total US foreign aid budget, according to a Congressional Research Service Report updated this January.

    USAID’s funding was primarily allocated across three key sectors: $16.8 billion to governance, $10.5 billion to humanitarian assistance, and $7.0 billion to health.

    Other key areas included administrative costs ($3.5 billion), agriculture ($1.3 billion), education ($1.1 billion), infrastructure ($0.7 billion), and economic growth ($0.7 billion).

    In FY2023, governance received the largest share, driven by substantial financial support for Ukraine, while humanitarian assistance surpassed the amount of health funding in FY2022.

    Health, historically the largest sector, continued to receive significant funding, largely supported by initiatives like PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and COVID-19 relief efforts.

    Who gets the most support from USAID?

    According to the Congressional report, approximately 70 out of the 77 countries that the World Bank classifies as low and lower-middle-income nations received USAID assistance in 2023.

    On a regional basis, around 40% of USAID-managed funds for 2023 were allocated to Europe and Eurasia ($17.2 billion), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa ($12.1 billion), Middle East and North Africa ($3.9 billion), South and Central Asia ($1.9 billion), and other regions ($8.4 billion), according to an analysis of data from USASpending.gov.

    In FY2023, USAID-managed funds supported approximately 130 countries, with the top 10 recipients being Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria, in descending order of funding.

    Focusing solely on USAID funds for these countries, the disparity is stark, as Ukraine alone received $16 billion, the top beneficiary in FY2023, followed by Ethiopia with $1.6 billion and Jordan with $1.2 billion. Afghanistan received $1.08 billion, while Somalia was allocated $1 billion.

    The Democratic Republic of Congo received $0.9 billion, followed by Yemen, Nigeria, and Syria, each receiving $0.8 billion. South Sudan received the lowest among the top recipients, with $0.7 billion.

    What is the global impact of USAID freeze?

    The freeze on USAID funding is significantly impacting critical humanitarian and health programs across the globe.

    Ukraine’s military funding remains unaffected, but the funding freeze will impact infrastructure rebuilding, power generation, railway modernization (e.g., Mostyska–Lviv), border improvements with the EU, and agricultural support.

    NGOs countering Russian disinformation and monitoring human rights will also be affected, according to a report by the Center for Eastern Studies.

    Another major program disrupted by Trump’s orders is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including countries such as South Africa, where the government has warned that nearly 20% of its $2.3 billion annual HIV/AIDS program could be at risk.

    PEPFAR is the US government’s largest global health initiative aimed at combating HIV/AIDS. With over $110 billion invested, it is the biggest single-disease effort by any country. As of 2023, it has saved over 25 million lives, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to USAID.

    The funding freeze also poses a serious threat to HIV services in Ethiopia, potentially affecting 503,000 patients across 1,400 facilities, with risks of treatment disruptions, according to UNAIDS. The possible termination of 5,000 health workers and 10,000 data clerks, along with supply chain delays, could undermine critical diagnostics and HIV progress.

    A PEPFAR-funded program in Kenya has been suspended as well. Launched in 2022, the $32.5 million initiative aimed to provide HIV treatment, prevention, and support in Nairobi, Kajiado County, and beyond. The suspension has closed 150 clinics, affecting 72,000 HIV patients.

    The USAID funding freeze under the Trump administration is exacerbating Uganda’s Ebola outbreak, delaying critical aid and disrupting response efforts. The suspension has led to understaffed contact tracing and inadequate screening of departing international travelers, as reported by CBS News.

    The freeze on US foreign aid has also led to the suspension of many humanitarian programs in Latin America and Central America.

    In Colombia, at least three humanitarian organizations have suspended support operations for more than 41,000 people displaced by recent guerrilla violence, according to a report by The Guardian. A program aimed at integrating hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants into Colombian society by providing job opportunities has also been paralyzed.

    In Brazil, two organizations assisting Venezuelan refugees have shut down their operations, and a program targeting the commercial sexual exploitation of children has been ordered to stop.

    In South Asia, the Trump administration’s aid freeze will cut off health services for 1.7 million people in Pakistan, including 1.2 million Afghan refugees, due to the closure of 60 facilities, according to the UN.

    In Bangladesh, around 600,000 people, including Rohingya refugees, risk losing maternal and reproductive health services, while UN officials have warned that Afghanistan could see “1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 unintended pregnancies” from 2025 to 2028.

    What are Trump’s concerns about USAID?

    President Trump and his administration have voiced strong opinions against USAID, criticizing its foreign aid efforts for being “not aligned with American interests” and often “destabilizing world peace.”

    A White House statement criticized several USAID-funded projects, deeming them controversial or wasteful.

    These included $1.5 million for advancing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in Serbia’s workplaces, $70,000 for a “DEI musical” in Ireland, and $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam.

    Additionally, $47,000 was allocated to a “transgender opera” in Colombia, and $2 million was spent on sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala.

    The statement also criticized $6 million for a tourism fund in Egypt, and claimed that USAID funds were used to support “al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria.”

    Further, the statement criticized a spending on “personalized” contraceptives and millions used for “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and fertilizer” in Afghanistan, which the statement suggested “supported the Taliban’s poppy cultivation and heroin production.”

    The White House argued these examples were indicative of waste, fraud, and misuse of funds.

    Echoing these criticisms, Elon Musk described USAID as “beyond repair,” adding: “We don’t have ‘an apple with a worm in it,’ we have a ball of worms.”

     ⁠USAID’s funding of LGBTQ+ worldwide

    USAID has allocated substantial funds to various LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, sparking criticism from the Trump administration.

    For example, Asociacion Lambda, based in Guatemala, has been allocated $1.9 million according to USASpending.gov.

    The organization’s official website describes its work as “Since its inception, it has fought for the equality, dignity and participation of LGBTIQ+ people,”

    In South Africa, OUT LGBT Well-Being is allocated $3.1 million. According to the organization’s official website, it works on promoting the well-being of the LGBTQ+o be able to secure “the empowerment, human rights and access to equitable services,”

    Another group that received criticism is Grupa Izadji, a Serbian NGO, another organization which the Biden administration allocated $1.5 million to.

    The organization states on their website thata “Our vision is a society in which LGBTI individuals have the opportunity to fully realize their potential,”

    However, Trump’s foreign aid freeze has halted funding for the group, cutting off expected support through the end of FY 2025.

    In India, USAID partnered with Johns Hopkins University to establish the country’s first transgender clinic, Mitr, providing health care services to the transgender community.

    (Anadolu Agency)

  • STIs Including Syphilis, Gonorrhea Are On The Increase, Report Finds

    STIs Including Syphilis, Gonorrhea Are On The Increase, Report Finds

    Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis are on the rise in most regions of the world, UN health agency WHO said in a new report on Tuesday. 

    HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections continue as significant public health challenges globally and cause 2.5 million deaths each year:

    New syphilis cases among adults aged 15-49 increased by over one million in 2022, reaching eight million, and there were 230,000 syphilis-related deaths.

    The highest increases occurred in the Americas and Africa.

    Health targets at risk 

    The report warned that the increase in STIs, combined with insufficient decline in the reduction of new HIV and viral hepatitis infections globally, threatens health targets which are part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rising incidence of syphilis raises major concerns.

    “Fortunately, there has been important progress on a number of other fronts including in accelerating access to critical health commodities including diagnostics and treatment,” he added.

    Multi-resistant gonorrhea 

    Syphilis is one of four curable STIs which together account for over one million infections daily. The others are gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries saw a surge in both adult and maternal syphilis – 1.1 million cases, and associated congenital syphilis, with 523 cases per 100,000 live births per year.

    New data also show an increase in multi-resistant gonorrhoea. WHO reported that as 2023, out of 87 countries where enhanced gonorrhoea antimicrobial resistance surveillance was conducted, nine reported elevated levels of resistance to the drug ceftriaxone, described as the “last line of treatment”.

    WHO is monitoring the situation and has updated its recommended treatment in efforts to reduce spread.

    Hepatitis and HIV 

    Roughly 1.2 million new hepatitis B cases and nearly one million new hepatitis C cases were reported in 2022.

    The estimated number of deaths from viral hepatitis rose from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022 despite effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment tools.

    Meanwhile, new HIV infections only declined from 1.5 million in 2020 to 1.3 million in 2022.

    WHO said five key groups men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender individuals, and individuals in prisons and other closed settings still experience significantly higher HIV prevalence rates than the general population.

    HIV-related deaths continue to be high, with 630,000 occurring in 2022, 13 per cent of which were among children 15 and younger.

    Silver lining 

    The report also highlights gains in expanding services for STIs, HIV and hepatitis.

    WHO has validated 19 countries for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and/or syphilis, reflecting investments in testing and treatment coverage for these diseases among pregnant women.

    The agency said Namibia is on track to become the first country to be evaluated for the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis.

  • HIV Vaccine Trial Start At Oxford University

    HIV Vaccine Trial Start At Oxford University

    Trials of a new HIV vaccine have begun at Oxford University, building on the success of the Covid vaccine developed by the institution.

    It is the first in a series of evaluations in HIV-negative individuals, for prevention, and in people living with HIV, for a cure.In phase one of the trial, which is run by the university’s Jenner institute, 13 HIV-negative adults, aged 18-65 and who are considered not to be at high risk of infection, will initially receive one dose of the HIV vaccine. A further booster dose will be given after four weeks.

    HIV-positive adults will be involved in later phases of the trial, while plans exist to start similar trials in Europe, Africa and the US.

    The trial is part of the European Aids Vaccine Initiative, an internationally collaborative research project funded by the European Commission.

    At present, prevention of HIV largely focuses on behavioural and biomedical interventions, such as voluntary medical male circumcision, condom use, and anti-retroviral drugs used prior to exposure.

    Oxford University said its vaccine candidate would be the “best solution” to ending the Aids epidemic.

    Professor Tomáš Hanke, Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the Jenner Institute , and lead researcher on the trial said: “The pace of decline in new HIV infections failed to reach the fast-track target agreed upon by the United Nations General Assembly in 2016: fewer than 500,000 new infections per year in 2020.

    “Even in the broader context of increasing antiretroviral treatment and prevention, an HIV-1 vaccine remains the best solution and likely a key component to any strategy ending the AIDS epidemic.”

    Dr Paola Cicconi, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Jenner Institute and the trial Chief Investigator, said: “Achieving protection against HIV is extremely challenging and it is important that we harness the protective potential of both the antibody and T cell arms of the immune system.”

    The researchers hope to report results of the by April 2022.

  • 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.

  • Exposed: Nairobi Women Now Using ARVs To Add Weight And Mass

    Exposed: Nairobi Women Now Using ARVs To Add Weight And Mass

    While majority of women in Kenya’s urban areas are struggling with obesity and weight loss, a breed of women have emerged that are doing everything to gain weight.

    City women are now using antiretroviral (ARVs) to enhance their body mass and weight in well-organized groups of 10 from a popular social media app.

    These women are first brought together through posts who later form or added to Facebook groups. Majority are always resistant to enter into this perilous and prohibited act at first.

    Sources to the writer indicate that the Facebook groups are used to lure and convince the naive and unsuspecting souls who are desperate to gain weight.

    Many of these women are willing to do anything to get to their anticipated weights. Majority also don’t know where to get the ARVs.

    The source further says that the willing group members are later taken to a city pharmacist who sells them ARV drugs at Ksh 5,000. The now-unnamed Pharmacist is allegedly HIV positive. That’s how he’s able to access the drugs more often.

    The prescription runs in a year.  With some women saying that they would only stop taking drugs when they hit the weight of their choice.

    also related:Cocaine Laced Marijuana And Prostitution In TUK

    Dr Patrick Gichohi a HIV-AIDS specialists states that injection of ARVs in a healthy body changes the distribution body fats. Majority of Nairobi women confuse it with body and weight gains.

    “Various antiretroviral drugs, for instance Efavirenz may possibly cause psychiatric complications.  Whereas protease inhibitors, anti-HIV replicator drug, may well elevate levels of cholesterol,” Dr. Gichohi revealed.

    The HIV-AIDS specialist also said that ARV will have calamitous effects on their bodies sooner or later.

     

  • South Africa starts giving oral PrEP to HIV-negative sex workers – Its time Kenya did the same

    South Africa starts giving oral PrEP to HIV-negative sex workers – Its time Kenya did the same

    Early March 2016, South Africa announced leading-edge interventions to address the high HIV infection rates among sex workers. The planned actions included; the provision of immediate antiretroviral treatment to all sex workers with HIV, and also to offer daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV-negative sex workers so as to prevent them from acquiring the infection.

    While designing the plan, South Africans encompassed the multi-faceted lives of sex workers tackling not only their health needs but also psycho social support, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, reducing violence and economic empowerment.

    Kenya should be noting down the important lessons

    Although Kenya has been providing both emergency antiretrovirals and post-exposure prophylaxis (Pep) treatment, which suppress the HIV virus if taken within 72 hours of infection, sex workers are often left out this HIV response due to criminalisation, stigma, discrimination and Violence. But how can pre-exposure prophylaxis be offered to a group the is already existing in Kenya illegally? (Sex work is illegal in Kenya).

    1. Curbing stigma

    Implementing PrEP will mean that implementing groups such as Ministry of Health first take the service to the sex workers and afterwards encourage the sex workers to seek psycho-social support, alcohol and substance abuse treatment and economic empowerment services offered countrywide.

    The combination of HIV-related stigma and stigma associated with sex work prevents sex workers from seeking HIV testing, and sex workers are also less likely to receive treatment.

    2. Strategic de-criminalisation of Sex work.

    There is strong evidence that criminalisation of sex work (Sex work is illegal in Kenya) encourages behaviour associated with a high risk of HIV infections and other sexually transmitted infection. Additionally, where sex work is criminalised, violence against sex workers is often not reported or monitored, and legal protection is often not offered to victims of such violence. Additionally, health-service providers often neglect their duty to provide care when attending to sex workers.

    HIV in Kenya

    The first case of HIV in Kenya was detected in 1984 and by 2013, Kenya had the joint fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world in terms of the number of people living with HIV. Roughly 58,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in the same year.

    Multi-level Interventions were launched including the declaration by the then President that HIV was a National Disaster. Remarkable achievements came through but the fact is that HIV remains a major threat to public health not only in Kenya but globally. The latest available data and evidence shows a general decrease in the HIV infections. Additionally, too many people are becoming infected with HIV, too many people do not know that they have HIV, and too many people are dying from AIDS-related causes.

    In a report by UNAIDS/Lancet, no African country reports a prevalence of HIV infection of less than 6% among sex workers. In comparison to the rest of the world, the median prevalence of HIV infection in sex workers in sub-Saharan Africa alone is 20·5% as compared with the global median of 3·9%.

    Kenya ought to and home from South Africans.

    If this is actually implemented fully, the sex workers an important but neglected population that has a very high risk of HIV will be reached. In the case of South Africa, a total of 70000 sex workers will be reached in a three year period.

    Who has already applauded South Africas plan

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has already welcomed South Africas plan.

    “We applaud the South African Government for this bold plan and for offering early testing and treatment and PrEP to sex workers,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO’s HIV/AIDS Department.

    “This plan is an important step to scaling up treatment towards ‘treat all’ and to reducing HIV transmission effectively and rapidly.” added Dr Gottfried Hirnschall.

    South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world, with an estimated 6.3 million people living with HIV. Sex work is estimated to account for as much as 20% of new HIV infections in the country. A recent Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey showed extremely high HIV prevalence among sex workers, with as many as 70% of sex workers in Johannesburg living with HIV.

    In September 2015, WHO recommended that PrEP be offered as an additional prevention choice for people at substantial risk of HIV. South Africa is recognized as the first country in Africa to translate this recommendation into national policy.