China donated on Friday 100,000 bottles of anti-tuberculosis drug,
called pasiniazide, to Kenya in an effort to help the country to
fight the killer disease.
The medicine, worth 70 million shillings (about 900,000 US
dollars), was donated by Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Du Qiwen on
behalf of China Society for Promoting Guangcai Program, a NGO of
Chinese entrepreneurs in the private sector, to the Kenyan Ministry
of Health.
Pasiniazide is an effective anti-TB drug made in China. On average,
10 bottles of the drug will be sufficient to treat a patient with
TB, therefore, the amount donated is expected to treat 10,000
cases, said Du at the handing-over ceremony.
Kenya is one of the 22 countries worldwide that have the highest TB
rate, and they contribute to almost 80 percent of the global TB
burden, said Kenyan Minister for Medical Services Hussein Mohamed
at the ceremony.
"The country has witnessed a steady increase in the number of
registered TB cases in the last ten years," he said.
In
2001, the ministry registered 73,017 new cases of tuberculosis, he
said, adding that the advent of HIV epidemic, urbanization and
increasing poverty are some of the factors contributing to the
increase of TB cases in Kenya.
Currently, case detection rate in the country stands at 47 percent
and the treatment success rate is 79 percent, which are below the
respective targets of 70 percent and 85 percent set by the World
Health Organization, he said.
The Kenyan minister announced that his ministry will ensure that
the anti-TB drugs continue to be provided free of charge to all
public health institutions and NGOs, but he admitted that the cost
of the drugs is one of the greatest challenge in the fight against
the disease.
Mohamed thanked the Chinese government for the donation, saying
that he hoped China will continue to help Kenya in this regard both
technically and financially.
Du
said that the donation is an important follow-up action for the
China-Africa Cooperation Forum that was held in Beijing in 2000,
that China and Kenya enjoyed very friendly relations that continue
to expand and deepen.
There is great potential for cooperation in the health service
sector between the two countries, Du noted, adding that he hoped
that such cooperation will be further enhanced.
(China Daily November 9, 2002)