Scientists say behaviour change will help lower HIV infections, which are currently rising in spite of easily available prevention tools that include condoms and free medication.
Leading Kenyan HIV researcher Prof Thumbi Ndung’u on Thursday said behaviour change interventions boost biomedical technologies rather than compete with them.
“People are living longer and the quality of life has improved because of antiviral treatment. The bad news is the number of new infections has not gone down,” he said in Nairobi.
At least 52,000 Kenyans, half of them young people aged 10-24, contracted the virus in 2017, according to the 2018 Kenya HIV estimates by the National Aids Control Council.
HIV is successfully prevented through condoms while the pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep), distributed for free in public health facilities, prevents infections even in condomless sex.
“We have a lot of methods to stop new infections. People need to change behaviour but it is hard. That’s why we need social behavioural research,” he said.
Prof Ndung’u is the programme director for the Durban-based Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (Santhe), a network of African researchers in HIV and TB.
He spoke when 54 Santhe-funded African scientists presented their research in Nairobi. Santhe is supported by the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (Deltas Africa) programme, an initiative of the African Academy of Sciences. The Nairobi meeting is the final in the current Santhe grant cycle.
In the early days, HIV prevention focused primarily on behaviour change through the ABC approach of abstinence, being faithful and use of condoms.
However, infections continued rising and scientists now mostly advocate a combination prevention measures through complementary behavioural, biomedical and structural strategies.
Structural strategies relate to, for instance, changing laws that criminalise same-sex relationships and hinder men who have sex with men from accessing condoms.
Recent studies show that although Prep is widely available in Kenya, uptake is sluggish and adherence is disappointingly low.
“We also must try to improve scientific literacy of communities. We don’t want to develop drugs that nobody will take,” Ndung’u said.
Nacc says condomless sex among young people is rampant, yet new infections are rising fastest in this age bracket.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki, speaking at the World Contraception Day in Nairobi on Tuesday, said HIV testing for men is key to lowering new infections.
“By having more men take HIV tests to know their status, we will also be protecting women, who are adversely affected,” she said.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
