KENYA: Faith-Based Organisations review progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Five Faith-Based Organisations in the network of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim affiliated health facilities met recently in Nairobi to review their performance in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The forum held at a Nairobi hotel under theme “Joining together to celebrate our successes in the fight against HIV in Kenya,” discussed the contribution of Faith-based organisations (FBOs) to the HIV response in the country.

They included the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK), Coptic Mission Hospital, Eastern Deanery Aids Relief Program (EDARP) and BOMU Medical Center.

“We renew our commitment to support all efforts already undertaken by the national government, county governments and other non-governmental organisations to alleviate the human suffering caused by the pandemic and to prevent it from further spreading and if possible to eliminate it completely in human history,” said Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki, I.M.C., Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (KCCB) Commission for Health.

For the last five years, the FBOs, through the support of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and partnership of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Kenya, have been providing preventive and curative health care service across Kenya’s 47 counties.
Bishop Kariuki urged the government and development partners to sustain the support towards fighting HIV/AIDS.

“We appeal for continued government and development partners support towards sustainability and scaling up of this (HIV) programme,” said the Bishop, who is also in charge of KCCB’s Kenya Aids Response Program (KARP).

Speaking during the same event, CDC Kenya Country Director, Dr Kevin De Cock said FBOs historically had played a significant role in delivering health care services in low-income countries.

(CISA in Nairobi)