The National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) has called for concerted efforts to end the ‘Triple Threat’ of HIV infections, teenage pregnancies, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the country.
Currently, Kenya is ranked 7th globally in the HIV epidemic prevalence rate with about 1.4 million Kenyans living with HIV of which at least 90 percent of these people are under medication.
Wario Boru, an official with the NSDCC expressed concern over the increasing rate of new HIV infections with young people registering high numbers.
He was speaking at the Garissa University during a sensitization forum for community gatekeepers and opinion leaders.
“If we continue with the rising new HIV infections, then this will be a vicious cycle of illness, treatment and death that will never end. The sad thing about these new infections is that about 40 per cent of them are in adolescence and young people aged between 15 and 25 years old,” Boru said.
“The best strategy now is to prevent new infections. Unless we put concerted efforts and mainstream in addressing HIV in our programming, we will not be able to win over this disease epidemic,” he added.
NSDCC Program officer Douglas Bosire said that unlike in the 1990s and early 2000s when a higher rate of HIV infections was in Nyanza, today infections have spread all over the country.
Bosire at the same time called on all men to be responsible and avoid sexual relationships with underage children who are increasingly becoming victims of teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and other health complications especially because their bodies are yet to grow to accommodate pregnancies.
“691 young children between the ages of 10 and 19 are impregnated every day. Where should a 10-year-old girl be? In School, but they are being impregnated and sexually transmitted diseases and at the same time hurting their bodies because, at that age, their bodies are not ready for those changes,” Bosire said.
“I want to ask our fellow men, what would you do to a fellow man who has defiled your 10-year-old daughter? Why are we destroying the lives of our neighbours’ children by doing things we can never imagine being done on our own?” he added.
Garissa Governor Nathif Jama who was also present during the forum called for the formation of a county engagement committee to look at the issues leading to the increased cases of teenage pregnancies, HIV infections and gender-based violence.
“We cannot continue watching this happen under our watch as leaders. I am proposing that we have a serious stakeholder meeting with all officials in relevant agencies to look at this matter more attentively,” Jama said.
“We need a team to look at these issues and come up with actionable recommendations to deal with this threat,” he added.
Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo said it was time for parents to stop being shy about having a conversation about sex with their children.
Mwabudzo said that while parents are keeping quiet, their children especially in the era of social media are having sexual intercourse without adequate information on the consequences and the choices they are making.
“When there is a problem, we have to come out and call a spade a spade. Our children have been exposed to sex at early stages and we still feel ashamed to speak with them in our houses. We have to come out and tell these children the truth and the consequences of sexual intercourse,” Mwabudzo said.
“We have another problem, especially the Muslim community who are allowed by religion to have several wives but do we have time to sit down with each of our children and families? How much time are we spending with them?” he posed.