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In April 2005, International Medical Corps and the Clinton Foundation formed a partnership to expand access to services preventing mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in Kenya’s Suba district, home to nearly 200,000 of Kenya’s poorest citizens. They aim to reduce transmission and improve the health care of HIV positive mothers and their families.
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With support from the Ministry of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IMC has been training nurses at Ogongo’s public health center on how to take dry blood samples (DBS) in order to test children younger than 18 months old for HIV. In the past, only a rapid response test was available, which could not be administered to children that young.
“Before the new test, there was no way to test babies, so many were neglected and died,” said Isaiah Cheruiyot, a Ministry of Health nurse. “With DBS we will be able to give treatment to HIV positive babies as young as six weeks old.”
More than 1.5 millions Kenyans have died from AIDS. Currently, an estimated 2.5 million of Kenya’s 33.8 million people are HIV positive.
Despite dramatically increasing the opportunities to treat HIV positive babies, the new test in many ways is low-tech. By taking dry blood samples, chemicals and refrigeration are no longer necessary. The samples are placed on filter papers and taken to the lab, and mothers are able to get the results in two weeks.
IMC is providing HIV counseling, testing for HIV positive mothers, as well as treatment drugs for mothers, infants, and other family members. IMC also is teaching mothers about good breastfeeding practices and nutrition.
"There must be a link between nutrition support and HIV care and treatment,” said Peter McOdida, IMC Kenya Country Director. “A sufficient diet is critical for fighting off opportunistic infections and support adherence to anti-retro viral treatment, especially when it comes to tolerability of the drugs. Without adequate nutrition, all HIV treatment and care is heading nowhere."
IMC is working to strengthen the continuum of care and promote community ownership as well as train medical staff to build and strengthen capacity. For the past six months, more than 30 Kenyan nurses have been in the Suba district, contributing to the expansion of comprehensive HIV care. The Ministry of Health would like Suba to be a model of rural health care and use it as a yardstick by which progress in other districts can be measured. The Clinton Foundation is currently funding the hiring of 900 nurses and 100 clinical officers for training in 13 new districts.
“IMC is committed to working with the Clinton Foundation and the Ministry of Health in Suba to ensure the care and treatment needs of HIV positive women and exposed infants are met in a timely and coordinated manner,” McOdida said. “The personnel are already making a lot of difference in the District. IMC, like the Clinton Foundation, is committed to contributing to a HIV-free generation and a better life for all infected children within and without the populations we serve.”
“We are pleased that IMC was able to provide the PMTCT training and is facilitating the early diagnosis of infants,” said Ann Sliney, a nursing specialist with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative. “This is the kind of cooperative spirit we were hoping for when we agreed to fund the hiring of nurses for rural districts.”
