NAIROBI, 14 June 2010: Kenya has set aside an unprecedented 900 million shillings (US$11.25 million) for the first time in its annual budget to purchase life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication; AIDS activists have welcomed the move but say more needs to be invested.
Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta allocated a further 12,5 million US Dollars to recruit 15 nurses and five public health technicians in each of the country’s 210 parliamentary constituencies, with 62.500US Dollar per constituency for the expansion of healthcare.
However, the allocation covers just over one percent of the estimated 959 million US Dollar gap in funding for treatment and care that Kenya faces over the next three and a half years.
