Task force says HIV/AIDS a "national disaster"

Kenya's National Task Force on HIV/AIDS said on Monday that the government should officially register the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country as a national disaster, the 'East African Standard' reported. The chairman of the task force, Ambrose Rachier, was quoted as saying that although President Daniel arap Moi had declared HIV/AIDS to be a national disaster in 1999, there was concern over the legal implications of the failure to make the declaration official through a gazette notice. "Upon the establishment of the task force [in August], we felt the need to prioritise the issue," Rachier said. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that once a national disaster had been officially registered, the government could make use of emergency powers to tackle the disaster.

Meanwhile, the 'East African Standard' quoted the minister of state in charge of internal security, Marsden Madoka, as saying that there was a need to "compel" doctors to make public the names of persons living with HIV/AIDS. He said the absence of specific laws criminalising the "malicious spread of the disease" was making it difficult for the government to contain the pandemic in Kenya. The government on 12 September, however, published guidelines for Kenya's HIV/AIDS Voluntary Counselling and Testing centres, which included provisions to safeguard the confidentiality of persons taking HIV/AIDS tests. Counsellors have argued that this provision is vital, as a lack of confidentiality has led to the refusal by many individuals to take an HIV/AIDS test.