KENYA: New AIDS treatment plan launched

JOHANNESBURG, 4 May 2006 (PlusNews) - The Kenyan Medical Association and Family Health International (FHI), an anti-AIDS charity, have launched an HIV/AIDS treatment project to complement the government's programme.

FHI country director John McWilliam said the programme was expected to ease pressure on already overstretched public health systems.

The local Nation newspaper quoted McWilliam as saying, "If Kenya is to meet its target for universal access to treatment, greater emphasis has to be placed on public-private partnerships."

With the help of the new initiative, the Health Ministry hopes to raise the number of HIV-positive people accessing treatment from 60,000 to 140,000 by the end of the year.