Kenya, together with Uganda, has had a frosty relationship with the Global Fund due to mismanagement of funds by government officials.

But new measures put in place to protect this money from corruption may have persuaded the Fund to allow Kenya to participate in the Round 10 bid.

Now Kenya is due to receive one of the largest grants given to a country in a single cycle, more than the total of $283 million that the country previously received since the Global Fund was established in 2002.
After three years of being locked out, Kenya is set to sign a $345 million grant by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the coming days.

In the wider East African region, Ethiopia has received $1.1 billion in the past decade, while Tanzania and Zanzibar have been given $761 million. Rwanda has so far received $563 million and Burundi $123 million. Uganda received $288 million.

According to the National Aids Control Council director, Prof Alloys Orago, 80 per cent of the money will be spent on treatment, while the remainder will be disbursed to non-governmental organisations dealing with HIV/Aids.

“A large portion of the money will be used to buy antiretroviral drugs and other medical products like syringes, test-kits and condoms,” said the director.

Currently, there are 460,000 HIV positive patients receiving free Aids treatment on the government-managed programme, and the number is expected to increase.

“We want to scale up the programme. Our target is to put a total of 650,000 patients on free antiretrovirals in the near future,” said Prof Orago.

The funding is expected to boost the lucrative drug market, which has been growing steadily in the region due to increased demand for medicines.

Palu Dhanani of Universal Corporation said his company was ready to produce enough antiretrovirals for the demand, which is expected to increase.

“We have the capacity to produce enough antiretrovirals and our drug is now WHO certified. We are the only company in Kenya whose antiretroviral drug has met WHO prequalification standards,” said Mr Dhanani, who is also the chairman of the Federation of Kenya Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.

Universal Corporation received the WHO certification for its antiretroviral drug Lamozid last month, a development that will enhance its competitiveness when applying for tenders floated by UN agencies, among them the Global Fund.

Mr Dhanani urged the government to give preference to local companies that have prequalification to help them improve capacity in the production of Aids drugs, the way India has done.

“It is always difficult to compete with companies from India, since they have been in the business for a long time and have taken advantage of economies of scale through winning many international tenders. This has helped them produce at a much lower cost,” he added.

Mr Dhanani said the company invested between $10 million and $12 million to improve standards and capacity in order to be awarded the WHO prequalification certification.

Cosmos Ltd, the other company that produces antiretrovirals locally, has also welcomed the additional funding. “Cosmos already does business with the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa), hence we have the capacity to increase production of antiretrovirals whenever needed,” said Jitendra Rishi, Cosmos general manager. Cosmos has voluntary licences to produce antiretrovirals from global pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Cosmos is also in the process of seeking WHO prequalification for an anti-malarial, an anti-tuberculosis and an anti-retroviral drug.

“We are confident our application will be accepted, given our track record and the investments we have put into the business to improve standards,” said Mr Rishi.

The latest development will encourage more companies to seek World Health Organisation certification under the UN prequalification of medicines programme to improve their competitiveness in international tenders to supply antiretroviral drugs.

Every year, billions of dollars’ worth of medicines is purchased by or through international procurement agencies — such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the Global Fund and UNITAID (an international facility used to purchase HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis drugs) — for distribution in poor countries.

The WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme (PQP) ensures that medicines supplied by procurement agencies meet acceptable standards of quality, safety and efficacy.

Dr Fred Siyoi, Deputy Registrar of the country’s drug regulatory authority, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, urges pharmaceutical companies to seek WHO certification for their drugs.

“It improves the company’s status and competitiveness for international tenders where UN agencies are involved,” said Dr Siyoi.