A Question of Life or Death

Treatment Access for Children Living With HIV in Kenya

Map of Kenya

I. Summary

Key Recommendations

II. Methodology

III. Background

HIV/AIDS Treatment for Children

The Epidemic in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Global Fight against HIV/AIDS

Fighting HIV/AIDS in Kenya

IV. Barriers to Treatment for Children Living with HIV

Perceptions about HIV and Lack of Accurate Medical Information

Stigma, Fear, and Silence as Barriers to HIV Testing and Treatment

Lack of Care, Neglect, and Abuse of Children Living with HIV

Caregivers' Failure to Take Children for HIV Testing and Medical Care

Children with No Caregivers: Child-Headed Households and Street Children

Economic Barriers to Testing and Treatment

V. Treatment Access during the 2008 Post-Election Violence

Impact of Post-Election Violence on the Health Sector and on ART

The Emergency Response Treatment in IDP and Transit Camps

VI. First Adults, Then Children? Government Health and Protection Policies

Pediatric HIV Policies and Practice in Kenya

Government Policies to Improve Protection of Children with HIV

VII. Legal Framework

VIII. Detailed Recommendations

To the Government of Kenya

To UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States, and Other Donor Agencies Working on HIV/AIDS

To the United National Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Other Donor Agencies Working on Child Protection

To Donor Countries

To the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Social Affairs

Acknowledgments