Media Alert: TAC to picket the Kenyan Embassy in solidarity with people living with HIV in Kenya facing dire ARV stockouts of ARVs and Commodities.
Pretoria, 13 May 2021 — The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is picketing today in solidarity with all people living with HIV in Kenya whose lives are at risk due to ongoing ARV and HIV commodity stockouts. The stockouts have persisted since February 2021 due to a dispute between the Kenya Government and USAID.
“We are extremely concerned that this stalemate is putting the lives of people living with HIV in Kenya at risk. People living with HIV are receiving little to no ARVs and there is no access to viral load testing and paediatric medication. This means people are forced to go back to the clinic again and again, costing time and money, only to be provided with one week’s supply of ARVs. This is even more worrying during the time of COVID-19 when people should be given more not less medicines. Moreover ARVs for children living with HIV are completely out of stock and mothers are being forced to share their own medicines with their children instead. The situation is unacceptable,” said Sibongile Tshabalala, TAC National Chairperson.
“Despite multiple efforts by our comrades in Kenya to seek a resolution, the stalemate is yet to be resolved. As people living with HIV, we understand the importance of taking treatment consistently in order to protect our long term health and that of our partners. When we are faced with stockouts, the power to adhere is taken out of our hands. We demand action from the Government of Kenya to ensure people living with HIV urgently get the ARVs they need,” said Anele Yawa, TAC General Secretary.
TAC is picketing outside the Kenyan Embassy today to call on High Commissioner Catherine Muigai Mwangi, as the representative of the Kenya Government to South Africa, to reach out to the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the U.S. State Department, and Kenyan networks of people living with HIV to ensure the concerns are addressed and concluded.
When: Thursday 13 May, 12h00
Where: , Taifa House, 302 Brooks Street, Menlo Park 0081, Pretoria.
For more information, contact:
Ngqabutho Mpofu | ngqabutho.mpofu@tac.org.za | +27 72 225 9675
