Former Karachuonyo MP Pheobe Asiyo on Tuesday warned mothers against allowing their schoolgirls to use contraceptives saying they increase their chances of contracting HIV.
Asiyo said such girls engage in unprotected sex and expose themselves to sexually transmitted infection as their focus is only on pregnancy.
"I want to tell women in Homa Bay and other parts of the country who fear that their schoolgirls might get early pregnancy and drop out of school to avoid enrolling these girls into family planning," she said.
"Family planning only prevents pregnancies but not HIV infection. This will kill our girls."
The former Maendeleo ya Wanawake boss said anti-pregnancy pills set the girls free to think that they are safe to engage in unprotected sex. She called for behaviour change in the war on HIV-Aids.
According to the Kenya Population-based HIV Impact Assessments 2018 report, Homa Bay leads with 19.6 per cent in HIV infection in the country. The county has also been rated the second in teenage pregnancies after Narok.
Asiyo spoke at Kendu Bay Muslims Secondary School where she distributed sanitary pads.
"We must get worried about our future generation if the current trend in HIV infection continues. Our children are our future and at the same time are the ones who drive our economy," she said.
"I want to urge all the leaders, including the church, Muslims and politicians, to talk on the HIV issue openly, especially to our young generation. What will happen in the next 10 to 20 years when our children will start dying of HIV infection, when they cannot be treated and when they become so weak and the children born are sick?”
The former lawmaker has been championing women and girlchild empowerment. She has initiated a programme to distribute sanitary pads to help the less fortunate girls in Karachuonyo.
Most teenage pregnancies have been blamed on bodaboda riders who lure girls, especially those who parents are unable to provide such commodities, into having sex in exchange for small gifts.
Poor performance among girls has also been attributed to the lack of sanitary pads since some have to stay at home for close to a week while on their menstrual periods, hence missing lessons.
