Providing HIV care in the aftermath of Kenya's post-election violence Medecins Sans Frontieres' lessons learned January – March 2008

Tony Reid,Marcel Manzi,Ian Van Engelgem,Barbara Telfer

doi:10.1186/1752-1505-2-15

Abstract

Kenya's post-election violence in early 2008 created considerable problems for health services, and in particular, those providing HIV care. It was feared that the disruptions in services would lead to widespread treatment interruption. MSF had been working in the Kibera slum for 10 years and was providing antiretroviral therapy to 1800 patients when the violence broke out. MSF responded to the crisis in a number of ways and managed to keep HIV services going. Treatment interruption was less than expected, and MSF profited from a number of "lessons learned" that could be applied to similar contexts where a stable situation suddenly deteriorates.

Highlights

Following the disputed presidential election in Kenya in December 2007, widespread violence broke out resulting in an estimated 1500 people killed and 600,000 displaced from their homes.[1]
The violence was severe in Kibera, a large slum near Nairobi where Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has been operating three primary health care centers
The problem was compounded since many patients and health care staff had returned to their home villages to vote, and were prevented from returning to Nairobi due to the violence

Summary

Introduction

Following the disputed presidential election in Kenya in December 2007, widespread violence broke out resulting in an estimated 1500 people killed and 600,000 displaced from their homes.[1]. MSF's three clinics in Kibera had been providing comprehensive primary care in addition to full HIV services, including Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy (HAART) for several years. This report describes MSF's response to the challenges of providing HIV services in Kibera slum during the postelection violence.

Results

Conclusion