HIS EXCELLENCY HON. MWAI KIBAKI, C.G.H., M.P. ON HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN AT KICC, NAIROBI, 3RD MAY, 2005 -  Declaration on HIV/AIDS!

I am delighted to join you today for this occasion of the official launch of the ActionAid International HIV/AIDS Campaign. This event is an important step in our collective efforts to mobilize the international community to commit more resources to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I wish to commend ActionAid International for the decision to launch an all out campaign against HIV/AIDS. I also express my government's sincere appreciation of the role that ActionAid has continued to play in reaching out to the poor, especially women and children.

Let me also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all community based organizations,  civil society groups, faith based organizations, international development partners,  private sector players and individuals who have continued to complement government efforts in fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS.
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Facts about the HIV/AIDS

Facts about the HIV/AIDS situation worldwide tell a grim story but with glimmers of hope:

• More than 21 million people have died of AIDS since the 1980s, over 75 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Some 36 million people are currently infected with the HIV virus, over 25 million of them in Africa and most of them do not know it.
• In 16 countries, more than 10 percent of adults, aged 15- 49, are infected with the HIV virus. In seven countries, all in southern Africa, at least one adult in five is living with HIV.
• In the most affected countries, half of all 15-year-olds alive today will eventually die of the disease, even if infection rates drop in the next few years. If infection rates remain high, more than two-thirds of these young people will die of AIDS.
• More than 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, and that figure may reach 30 million before the end of the decade.
• AIDS is having a serious impact on many societies and economies, destroying the hard-won development gains that have been made in recent years.
• Nb : The youths are exposed to HIV due to their biological, socio-cultural and economic factor. The high level of teenage pregnancy, abortions, school dropouts and sexual transmitted infections, confirms that they are engaged in early sexual activities and are increasingly predisposed to HIV/AIDS.
  Panafrican News Agency

HIV/AIDS Situation in Kenya
HIV Infected: 1.2 million
AIDS Deaths: 150,000
AIDS Orphans: 650,000
720,000 women 15-49 living with HIV
         UNAIDS, Report of the Global AIDS Epidemic, 2004