2,000 Murang'a residents living with HIV not on ARVs

More than 2,000 Murang’a residents living with HIV are not on antro-retroviral drugs, the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council has revealed.

The council’s chairperson Geoffrey Gitu has said these are among 22,000 HIV positive residents living in the county.

The national HIV prevalence stands at 1,400,000 who are provided with ARVs by the government.

As such, the council has started a programme that will partner with the county government to reach out to people living in the grassroots in a new bid to stem new infections.

The programme will start at Kanyenya-ini in Kangema on Thursday, June 6. The aim is to sensitise residents on the need to protect themselves and raise awareness about the Triple Threat campaign that seeks to eradicate new HIV infections, gender-based violence and adolescent pregnancies.

The programme will be integrated with a maternal health project run by the county government under which expectant mothers are issued with a stipend to enable them to attend ante-natal clinics and deliver in hospitals.

With more than 30 per cent of mothers delivering at home, the programme was started in October last year to stem the high numbers and reduce the risks involved both to the mother and the child.

“Murang’a is one of the low burden counties in terms of HIV infections but still faces challenges of new infection,” Gitu said.

He said that most of the new infections are recorded among teens aged between 14 and 18 years with a higher prevalence recorded among women.

This, he said, is attributed to GBV where teenage girls are forced into engaging in unprotected sex, with many ending up pregnant.

Many teen mothers are unable to access ante-natal care, increasing their risks of developing complications during birth.

The campaigns, Gitu said, will reach out to communities and enlighten them on the need to fight the triple threats and how to protect themselves.

“If somebody is raped, there are interventions that can be done to reduce their risk of contracting HIV but that can only happen if they visit hospitals,” he said, adding that the government’s aim is to ensure no baby is born with HIV by the year 2030.

He said it was shocking during the safari rally held in March this year to see many youths preferring not to use condoms that were freely supplied.

Instead, they preferred riskier methods of preventing pregnancy such as emergency pills while many others consumed the Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) drugs used to stop the HIV virus from taking hold in the body after a possible exposure.

Though shortage of condoms has contributed to new infections, Gitu said failure by youths to engage in safe sex has been the main hindrance to the HIV fight.

The campaign has had a major impact in the country as it has seen many teen mothers rehabilitated and taken back to school.

“Most of the cases of teen mothers have been found to have come out of incestuous relations but more and more are now coming out to seek help.”

Data from the Ministry of Health indicates that in 2023, about 254,753 adolescent pregnancies were reported, out of which 13,239 were children aged 10 and 14 years.

About 23,456 adolescents and children aged between 10 and 17 years were sexually violated with 3,403 aged between 0 to nine years.

About 67,869 children aged 0–14 years are living with HIV with Nairobi, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori counties cited as some of the high burden counties.

With the high HIV prevalence taking a toll on the country’s health budget, the government has committed to end the triple threats by 2027.