Statements and Webcast
Kenya
H.E. Ms. Esther Murugi Mathenge, Minister of State for Special Programmes
8 June 2011
- Statement: English (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
ESTHER MURUGI MATHENGE, Minister of State for Special Programmes of Kenya, said her country had taken stock of progress made in its national response to HIV/AIDS since the Declaration of 2001, and was employing a multisector response. Kenya’s National Strategic Plan for 2009 to 2013 was based on the premise of “know our epidemic, know your response”, and the Government hoped to scale up treatment to 80 per cent of all eligible people by 2015. Prevention of mother to child transmission was also high, at more than 83 per cent prevention, and the goal was to achieve 100 per cent prevention by 2013.
On the issue of orphans and vulnerable children, she said that by 2009, close to 1.2 million children had lost one or both parents. A cash transfer program now reached over 100,000 of those girls and boys. Another challenge was the feminization of the epidemic, driven largely by biological factors, inadequate empowerment, and gender-based violence. The number of annual infections was still very high, and she expressed the hope to decrease all infections, and to have zero infections in children, by 2015. She called on the international community to invest in new strategies to combat HIV/AIDS, and applauded the United Nations vision of zero new infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.
Source: GA/11086