The Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS-CEPA was launched on 26th January 2010, at the Panafric Hotel, Nairobi. The launch effectively inaugurated the National advocacy action plan (NAAP) for Kenya. CEPA is a three year (2010-2013) global advocacy campaign initiated by Global AIDS alliance (GAA), an international Non Governmental Organization based in Washington DC.
The campaign seeks to leverage policy reforms on health care and treatment access in Kenya and at the global level, expand and activate in-country advocacy networks and hold governments and decision makers accountable for tangible progress towards their policy commitments. CEPA’s goal is to increase coverage rates for PMTCT (Prevent mother- to- child transmission) from the average 30 % to 40% to the globally agreed upon target of 80% and ensure high quality services. It will accelerate action to reduce the incidence of pediatric HIV/AIDS and measurably improve the delivery of treatment to children and mothers with focus on six countries in sub Saharan Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
The lead organization to the campaign in the country is the Kenya Treatment Access (KETAM), in partnership with Social Development Network (SODNET), Kenya Medical Association (KMA), Kenya pediatric Association (KPA), Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS), Health Action International (HAI), Health gap, and Africa Network for care of children affected by HIV/AIDS (ANECCA).
In order to achieve its goal, CEPA will accelerate progress towards four core objectives:
- Family-Centered Care and Nutrition. Expand access to PPTCT+ and pediatric treatment, care, and support, including nutrition services, and integrate child and family services with other health services in order to improve survival rates and health outcomes for children, HIV-positive mothers, and their families. The campaign will seek to overcome poor retention of patients in treatment programs due to fragmented service delivery structures, a lack of both trained health care providers and policies permitting non-physicians to initiate anti-retroviral therapy (ART); and a lack of policies and guidelines that create linkages between antenatal care (ANC), sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including family planning, basic maternal and child health services.
- Early Infant Diagnosis and Treatment. Expand access to early infant diagnosis and earlier and improved pediatric treatment in order to improve survival rates and health outcomes for children.It will seek to overcome insufficient infrastructure for diagnosis and treatment of children living with HIV, operational barriers such as the lengthy turn around time from drawing tests samples to reporting.
- Access to Appropriate Medications. Reduce distribution barriers and increase the global supply of high-quality, low-cost lifesaving medicines for children and their families, including ARVs, drugs to treat opportunistic infections, and first and second-line regimens to ease dosing and administration.
- Full Funding to Eliminate Pediatric AIDS. Secure the financial resources needed to facilitate country-level scale-up of PPTCT+ and pediatric and maternal treatment programs. The campaign will seek to overcome insufficient implementation and donor government commitment to achieving 80% coverage for pediatric treatment and PMTCT+ services; and inadequate allocation of resources to pediatric HIV diagnosis, treat, and care, and PMTCT+ programmes.
SODNET will take lead in Objective Four, especially around budget advocacy and development of tools and technology related support for the Campaign.