John Nkengasong, the US Global Aids coordinator, told the Star they are only supporting the Kenyan government to reach this key population with HIV services.
He spoke after Kenya’s Supreme Court last week allowed people who identify as LGBTQI to form legally recognised associations.
But many MPs have criticised the ruling, claiming it was influenced by donors and ther money.
Nkengasong is also the head of the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which funds most HIV services in Kenya with about Sh40 billion every year.
Although Nkengasong did not address the ruling, he said Pepfar’s interest is only fighting HIV, and these groups face the biggest barriers in accessing prevention and treatment services.
“So let me clarify something.
"First of all,which is extremely important: that it is not Pepfar in Kenya navigating that; it is the people of Kenya, the Government of Kenya leading the response, and Pepfar is your partner in supporting Kenya’s effort to bring HIV-Aids to an end as a public health threat by the year 2030,” Nkengasong said.
"That distinction is very, very important, so that it’s not seen like it’s an American programme coming into Kenya to address other structural issues there."
Earlier this year, Pepfar said its assistance will henceforth follow President Joe Biden’s 2021 memorandum on advancing the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) persons around the world.
The memorandum directed that the US foreign assistance should promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.
In Kenya, many gay persons do not seek health services because of discrimination and homophobia within the healthcare system, according to Human Rights Watch.
Nkengasong told the Star Pepfar's focus this year is on three priority populations: children; adolescent girls and young women; and the key population comprising men who have sex with men (MSM), and female sex workers.
“And each category of the priority populations requires a strategy, and that strategy cannot be dictated or conceived in Washington. It has to be conceived locally.
"Because who else knows the context, the socioeconomic, cultural context, better than than the country? That’s why I emphasise that country leadership is key. We are a partner,” he said.
Nkengasong spoke from Johannesburg, via a conference call with African journalists.
Last week, Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma proposed a bill to jail for life anyone identifying as a homosexual.
Even if it does not become law, the proposal will worsen the social barriers LGBTQI people in Kenya face in obtaining healthcare, human rights advocates say.
Nkengasong said Pepfar's overall target is to end HIV-Aids as a public health threat around the world by 2030.
“So what does that mean for men who have sex with men in Kenya? That we see this truly as a public health issue that we address. We want to address a public health issue," he said.
"We recognise that if we do not address HIV-Aids in key populations, including men who have sex with men, female sex workers, we would never arrive at our target.”
In Nairobi, the prevalence of HIV among MSM is 25 per cent compared to 3.1 per cent in the general male population (15–49 years old), with 15.2 per cent of all new HIV infections in Kenya occurring among MSM.
This is according to various reports by the National Aids and STI Control Programme (Nascop), including Kenya population-based HIV Impact Assessment (Kenphia) report, produced in 2020.
Kenya criminalises homosexual acts with up to 14 years in prison.
Most LGBTQI people in Kenya live in a context of structural social exclusion and face violence, which increases their vulnerability to HIV infection.
Nkengasong said there is no silver bullet to address this problem.
“I believe that we have to work collectively with the civil society, with community leaders, religious leaders, and political leadership to find ways that we can begin to break down the structural barriers,” he said.
“We have to build bridges with the communities, and build bridges that will enable us to solve the problem that is at hand, which is to bring HIV-Aids to an end, rather than build walls."
"Okay, if we build walls between us and different subsets of community, we will never be able to successfully bring HIV-Aids to an end by the year 2030.”
(Edited by V. Graham)
