US props Kenya's fight against HIV/AIDS

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The United States government will disburse some 2.
9 billion Kenya shillings (about $40.
3 million) in the next five years to help the Kenyan government combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country's Indian Ocean coastal belt.
Michael Ranneberger, US ambassador to Kenya, announced here Wednesday that through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), his government will also help Kenya's health sector to promote behavioural change amongst its population.
The envoy disclosed that through the USAID-funded Kenya AIDS Population and Health Integrated Assistance Programme or APHIA, the US intends to make available high quality anti-retroviral drugs, family planning and maternal health care accessible to a larger population of Kenyans.
Ranneberger, who launched the APHIA programme, announced that through it the number of AIDS sufferers in Kenya currently on anti-retroviral drugs would increase from 30,000 to 140,000 this year.
The envoy said besides the APHIA programme, the US government would increase its allocation to Kenya for the Emergency AIDS Relief Fund from 14.
4 billion shillings to 16.
56 billion shillings this year, the largest allocation ever to an African Country.
(1 US dollar = 72 Kshs).
He said through the US-Kenya Partnership, the US government intends to combat HIV/AIDS by encouraging people to visit voluntary counselling and testing centres.