UNAIDS and Kenya centralize HIV data for more effective response

Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya, and Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, have launched an innovative new tool to track progress and identify gaps in HIV programming in the country.

UNAIDS, a Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, is using the miVEDiX solution from iVEDiX in the HIV Situation Room, which brings together logistics and service delivery data to present a more comprehensive picture and understanding of Kenya’s epidemic. miVEDiX allows the United Nations and its member states to collaborate by having access to national, county and facility level data, enabling better targeted programs and service level support, as well as giving countries and individual counties access to near real-time data for better informed decision making.

Luiz Loures, deputy executive director of UNAIDS, says, “iVEDiX is instrumental in helping us reach our goal to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 by enabling us to work together through a connected Situation Room. The ability to visualize, compare and manipulate data at the county and facility levels in meaningful ways is invaluable.”

“As we all know, what gets measured gets done,” says President Kenyatta, “I am pleased that the Internet-based dashboard, the Kenya HIV Situation Room, has been unveiled.”

Sidibé says, “High-velocity data is critical for insights into a more effective and efficient response to HIV. President Kenyatta’s leadership will help Africa accelerate progress toward ending the AIDS epidemic as part of the sustainable development goals. It can serve in a similar manner to track progress against other diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria.”

By adopting a people-centered approach to its response, Kenya has been able to accelerate progress toward ending its AIDS epidemic. New HIV infections fell by 77 percent from 1993 to 2014. AIDS-related deaths were reduced by 74 percent from 2003 to 2014 as access to antiretroviral treatment was scaled up. Latest data from the Kenya HIV Situation Room shows that Kenya is close to having 800,000 people on treatment.

miVEDiX is a mobile solution that seamlessly integrates existing data infrastructure and gives users access to the data from their mobile device, according to iVEDiX. Prior to using the solution, the various data sets needed to be extracted regularly by staff at different institutions.

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