Position Paper Cote D'ivoire Uniceff

Delegation from
Kenya
Position Paper for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
The topics before the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) are Addressing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Among Young Women and Preventing Tuberculosis Infection among People Living with HIV. Cameroon looks forward to
discussing these important topics at the upcoming conference.
I. Addressing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Among Young Women
Kenya is gravely concerned that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) HIV in the WHO African Region, 2018
infographic, roughly 210,000 pregnant women living with HIV globally do not receive antiretroviral medicine to prevent the
transmission to their children… (you should write three clauses like this one)
As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, Kenya recognizes the right of everyone to
medical services for the prevention, treatment, and control of diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Kenya highlights the national
Kenya Aids Strategic Framework 2014/2015-2018/2019, which identifies gaps in existing HIV/AIDS programming, makes
recommendations for engaging key populations like young women, and focuses on strengthening existing community
health systems to generate better treatment and prevention outcomes… (one clause like this one)
Kenya recommends regional bodies partner with local health care systems to develop resource centers similar to AMURT
Global Network’s Youth HIV and AIDS Prevention Program, which operates nine centers in Kenya providing age-specific
youth CSE, peer mentoring, and routine HIV testing, as well as a social support system for people living with HIV (PLHIV)
to reduce the impact of social stigma. Kenya supports the regional expansion of UNICEF’s Young Mentor Mothers Initiative
in Zimbabwe, which trains young mothers who are acting as community adolescent HIV treatment supporters to provide
specialized peer support to other young mothers and prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) outcomes. Kenya also
highlights Care at the Core of Humanity (CATCH)’s Legal Aid program, which provides free legal services, including
counselling, outsourcing resources, and court monitoring to vulnerable youth in Zimbabwe to ensure that their rights are
upheld, as a model for organizations to prevent discrimination against young women living with HIV. (see the programs. NO
citation)
II. Preventing Tuberculosis Infection among People Living with HIV

Kenya believes that preventing and treating tuberculosis (TB) infection, particularly for PLHIV, is of vital importance, as
208,000 people with HIV died from TB in 2019, making it the leading cause of death for people living with HIV, according to
the WHO 2020 Infographic Tuberculosis is the Top Infectious Killer in the World. Kenya is fully aware that according to
UNAIDS’s Tuberculosis and HIV 2020 infographic, people living with HIV are up to 19 times more likely to become ill from
TB infection than people without, greatly increasing their need for medical intervention to survive…
Considering that children also face high mortality rates from HIV and TB co-infection, Kenya expresses its approval for the
WHO’s Rome Action Plan 2020 on Paediatric HIV and TB, which commits to updating treatment guidelines in a timely
manner to ensure that children have access to newer, more effective drugs as safety data becomes available by prioritizing
them in drug implementation plans. Kenya appreciates the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS
(OAFLA)’s partnership with the African Union for the Free to Shine Campaign, which aims to end new HIV infections in
children and improve the life expectancy of women by engaging women in advocacy to reinforce the political commitments
of African countries to bolster HIV treatment and prevention plans. Kenya emphasizes its own National Plan for
Accelerating HIV Care and Treatment 2015-2017, which sets standards for integrating HIV treatments into TB care facilities
by incorporating antiretroviral therapy (ART) into TB clinics, in order to increase the accessibility of treatment services for
patients.
Aware that innovation is essential to combatting co-infection of HIV and TB, especially as MDR-TB becomes more
prevalent, Kenya recommends regional organizations implement research strategies similar to the Center for the AIDS
Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), which conducts clinical trials on new MDR-TB treatments, and
provides free diagnosis and care services to research subjects through their clinics. To raise awareness on risk factors
involved with HIV and TB, Kenya offers the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s National AIDS & STI Control Programme
(NASCOP), which conducts mass media campaigns to promote behaviors that reduce transmission risks, encourages
routine testing for all, and disseminates timely, accurate information about HIV. Bearing in mind the emotional strain that
patients may experience after a new HIV diagnosis, Kenya strongly supports a partnership between the WHO and HIVSA to
expand the Integrated Access to Care and Treatment (I ACT), which offers age appropriate support groups for people living
with HIV upon diagnosis to assist them in coping with treatment, increasing patient adherence to treatment plans,
encouraging further routine screenings for co-infections like TB, and reducing the impact of social stigma by creating a
support network.

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II. Preventing Tuberculosis Infection among People Living with HIV

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