Hiv and Aids Programmes Financing and Sustainability in Kenya: A Case of the National Aids Control Council (Nacc)

Abstract

Kenya is facing a serious sustainability problem as well a significant challenge in financing scale up of HIV and AIDS services to reach universal access, working towards zero HIV new infection, zero discrimination and zero HIV related deaths and attaining beyond zero. The gap between the available resources and actual needs is projected to increase in the coming years and yet the evolving nature of the epidemic requires that NACC through the Government of Kenya begin to plan a future based on the reality of HIV condition. The general objective of this study was therefore to determine the influence of financing strategies on the Sustainability of HIV and AIDs programmes in Kenya by focusing on the National Aids Control Council. The study also sought to determine the role of effective financial management strategies, resource management, income diversification strategy and donor relationship management affects HIV and AIDS programmes sustainability in Kenya. The study adopted Resource Based Theory, Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) and Theory of constraints (TOC). The resource based view theory explains the importance of financial management strategies, resource management and income diversification in National Aids Control Council. The resource dependency theory explains that an organization may depend of another organization for critical resources. The theory of constraints explains the importance of resource allocation and management in managing HIV/AIDs projects. The research study used a descriptive research design The target population of the research study will be 10 board members, 13 senior manager, 85 supervisors, and 123 officers at NACC. This study made use of stratified random sampling to select 50% of the target population. The sample size of the study was 116 staff. This study made use of both primary and secondary data. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Secondary data was collected from the organization’s reports, internet and survey reports. A pilot test was conducted to enhance the validity and reliability of the research instrument. The data that was collected in this study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Qualitative data was analysed by use of content analysis presented in a prose form. On the other hand, Quantitative data was analysed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies, measures of central tendencies (mean) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation) was used to describe the characteristics of the target population. Data was then presented in graphs and tables. Further, correlation analysis and mult iple regression analysis were used to establish the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The study found that income diversification was the most significant factor influencing sustainability of HIV/AIDs programmes in Kenya, followed by donor relationship management, resources management and effective financial management practices. In addition, the study found that financial management strategies such as accounting or bookkeeping system, financial analysis skills, accountability and internal control influence sustainability of HIV and AIDs programmes in Kenya. Further, the study found that resource management ensures that needs identified are met through efficient use of funds. This study therefore recommends that the organization should increase its adoption of information technology in financial management as a way of enhancing the management of financial resources. In addition, the organization should recruit more skilled staff in financial management and finance the training of the current staff on financial management practices. Also, NACC should tighten its internal policies by developing internal policies to govern utilization of resources.