Funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Sustainable Financing Initiative for HIV/AIDS (SFI) aims to increase sustainability of the HIV response by promoting shared financial responsibility with host country governments. Since 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has implemented SFI in 16 countries and two regional programs, with a budget of nearly $48 million.
Kenya has made significant strides in tackling its HIV epidemic, but it still has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. In 2020, an estimated 1.5 million people were living with HIV (PLHIV) and the prevalence of HIV among adults was 4.9 percent. Furthermore, 40,825 people were newly infected with HIV and 20,374 died from an AIDS-related illness.1 The Government of Kenya is committed to strengthening its health system, increasing and finding new domestic funding sources, exploring utilization of the private health sector to sustain HIV care and treatment, and working with counties to strengthen budgeting for health.
In collaboration with the Government of Kenya, SFI activities have focused on improving public financial management by building the capacity of county and national government officials in budget planning, allocation, and execution. SFI is also engaging with private sector stakeholders to provide better access to HIV care and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in private pharmacies.
