The Ministry of Medical Services has disputed reports by a Human Rights Watch's indicating that more than 40,000 children in Kenya are likely to die of HIV/ AIDS in the next two years if they do not receive anti-retroviral treatment.
The ministry says contrary to the allegations over 30, 000 children infected with HIV are currently receiving Anti- retroviral therapy in over 350 health facilities country- wide.
Director of medical services Dr Francis Kimani however admits that over 40 000 children are in need of anti-retroviral treatment across the country.
The 100-page report dubbed "A Question of Life or Death: Treatment Access for Children Living with HIV in Kenya" claimed the government has neglected children in HIV treatment programme thus failing to get life-saving drugs to the majority of children who need them.
The international human rights organisation said that despite anti-retrovirals being free in Kenya, two-thirds of children who urgently need them are not accessing the drugs.
However the government denies these allegations with Dr Kimani saying, " the government has made available ART for children provided free up to primary level care facilities. Enough supplies of pediatric ART are available in the country to cater for all children in need of ART".
The report puts the Government on the spot over its commitment to fight HIV and Aids in children and warns that if untreated, half of all children born with HIV will die before their second birthdays as many local health facilities do not ensure that children have access to HIV tests and rarely offer anti-retroviral treatment to children.
However the government is quick to point out that it has put in place a national netwoork for free testing of children through early infant diagnosis using DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction for children aged less than 18 months.
"So far more than 45 000 infants have been tested using this tevhnology. Routine testing for older children is conducted in in-patient and out-patient settings through the provider initiated testing and counseling with opt-out police says Dr Kimani.
"Recently the government changed guidelines for pediatric ART in line with WHO recommendations to initiate ART in all children less than 18 months who are found to be HIV positive," he adds.
However Dr Kimani admits the government is facing challenges in the implementation of pediatric ART program including lack of fixed drug combinations of pediatric ARVs making children use separate drugs in contrast with adults who have access to combined tablets.
Further Dr Kimani says while 80% of pregnant mothers accept HIV testing and access prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV services, only 42% of them deliver in health institutions, denying them an opportunity for interventions to prevent infection transmission.
The report follows another one released on World Aids Day that said HIV and Aids management programmes around the world were focusing more on adults and youths, leaving out infected children and denying them access to treatment.
Dr Kimani says HIV prevalence in the country has been on a declining trend since it peaked in 2000 at 13.4%.
He says according to a recent Kenya National Aids indicator Survey of 2007, HIV prevalence in adults aged between 15 and 64 years was 7.4% while an estimated 1.4 million Kenyans are living with HIV.
