Kenya’s National Aids Control Council requires Sh45 billion (almost R6 billion) annually to place HIV positive patients on treatment alone.

The amount does not include other aspects of HIV control, including testing and counselling, awareness creation and prevention measures, the Daily Nation reported on Wednesday.

Regina Ombam, the Aids council deputy director, said the council has only settled on key areas of treatment and were they to include everything, the amount will be higher.

“We are in talks with National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to see how we can include HIV treatment. We have done our evaluation and we are now in the process of identifying how to raise funds to boost the pool of NHIF resources,” she said.

Talks with partners who support HIV programmes are continuing, urging them to channel their resources to the NHIF. The gap between donors and HIV costs is filled by the government, private sector, households and non-governmental organisations.

Some 1.64 million Kenyans are currently living with HIV, but the figure could shoot to 6.9 million by 2060.