Kenya steps up Aids battle as building starts on $100m drug factory
Monday, April 1, 2019
By Gintonga Njeru
Construction has started on a multimillion dollar Aids drug factory that will become the largest in Africa when it opens later this year.
The $100m (£75m) facility will bring 1,000 jobs to Kenya and reduce the reliance of almost half of the continent’s countries on European imports.
The drugs, which will be made in Nairobi in a partnership between the government, the Global Fund and local drug manufacturers, will dramatically reduce Kenya’s spending on its Aids epidemic, said the country’s medical director, Dr Jackson Kioko.
“This will cut our annual government budget from 38bn shillings [£285m] to a reasonable amount that we spend treating HIV/Aids. This will also put about 300,000 people under treatment.
Photo courtesy of Paolo Trabattoni.
Source: The Guardian (link opens in a new window)
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