Former US president Bill Clinton has launched a program that is to nearly double the number of children receiving treatment for HIV infection in Kenya by the end of the year.
Some 100,000 children are infected with HIV, but only 1,200 receive treatment. The Clinton Foundation's Pediatric HIV/AIDS Initiative will provide treatment to an extra 1,000 children in this East African nation.
Clinton flew to Rwanda later on Saturday and donated a year's supply of anti-retroviral treatment for 2,500 children infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The initiative is part of the Clinton Foundation's goal to have 10,000 children on anti-retroviral treatment in at least 10 countries by the end of this year.
Clinton has raised funds from private donors led by the Children Investment Fund Foundation, a London-based charity that funds projects to improve the lives of children living in poor countries. The US-based investment fund Lone Pine Capital has also made a substantial contribution.
Children account for one-sixth of annual HIV/AIDS deaths worldwide, but represent far less than 5 percent of the current treatment coverage, according to the UN's World Health Organization.
The lack of coverage is a result of difficulties associated with pediatric HIV/AIDS care. Diagnosis of the infection in children under 18 months old has been expensive and complex, according to a statement from the Clinton Foundation.
Health professionals also believe that only pediatricians can treat children, but few of them in developing countries have anti-retroviral experience. The cost of pediatric medications has also been prohibitive -- four to five times that of most affordable adult formulations -- partly because suppliers have not received large orders.
Clinton's visit to Rwanda was intended to highlight the progress made in extending HIV/AIDS treatment across the small central-African nation.
In the past year alone, Rwanda has tripled the number of people on anti-retroviral treatment to approximately 13,250 -- about 20 percent of those who need it -- and increased the number of treatment sites from 20 to 57, according to a statement by Clinton Foundation.
The foundation has worked with Rwanda's government since 2002 to help extend the availability of HIV/AIDS treatment.
RSS