Kenya has signed six grants from The Global Fund totaling Kes59.7 billion ($407.9 million) to combat HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria, while also strengthening health and community systems.

The financing, which will be released over three-year period from July 2024 to June 2027, will see $232.6 million go to HIV, $72.9 million go to malaria, $67.8 million go to TB, and $34.7 million be utilized in strengthening health systems.

According to a joint statement from the Ministry of Health as well as Global Fund, the grants aim to improve the provision of quality care and prevention services for TB, leprosy, and lung diseases. They will also support Kenya’s goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage by enhancing HIV prevention, treatment, and care, and aim to reduce malaria incidence and deaths by at least 75 percent by 2027.

Additionally, these grants will fund the procurement of essential commodities for TB, malaria, and HIV, including medications, laboratory supplies, and test kits. They will also support primary care activities at the community level, in line with the universal healthcare agenda, and provide social support and Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) premiums for needy TB/HIV/malaria patients to access the full SHIF benefit package.

The Global Fund is a partnership among governments, civil society, the private sector, and people affected by these diseases, aiming to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria globally.

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The Kenya Coordinating Mechanism includes representatives from the government, civil society, private sector, and people living with these diseases to present funding proposals to the Global Fund and monitor program implementation.

In Kenya, HIV grant has significantly improved the procurement of vital commodities like antiretrovirals (ARVs), HIV test kits, condoms, and laboratory reagents. Since 2003, these efforts have led to a 78 percent decline in new HIV infections, a 68 percent reduction in HIV-related mortality, and a 65 percent decrease in mother-to-child transmission. Currently, 1.4 million people living with HIV in Kenya have access to ARVs.

In the TB program, the government, in collaboration with the Global Fund, has established 1,933 Community Health Units, trained 18,500 Community Health Promoters (CHPs), and 3,700 Community Extension Health Workers (CHEWs).

This has resulted in a treatment success rate of 86 percent and a decline in the average TB positivity rate among presumptive cases from 7.35 percent in 2021 to 5.6 percent in March 2024. The number of individuals tested for TB more than doubled from 245,902 in 2021 to 502,970 in March 2024.

The malaria program has also significantly reduced the malaria burden in Kenya, with national prevalence dropping from 8.2 percent in 2015 to 6 percent in 2023.

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