Men in Kakamega have been asked to stop turning to self-medication and instead seek medical help whenever they suffer from sexually transmitted infections.
It has been established that majority of the men in the rural Kakamega would rather walk to the bush and gather some herbs and roots to cure an itch than go to hospital.
Gynaecologist Jairo Londiani of Ileho in Kakamega said most of the times the self-medication backfires as STIs can never be cured using herbs.
He said the situation has left many young men nursing permanent damage to their private organs, while others have ended up with permanent infertility.
Londiani, however, attributes the refusal to go hospital to the fear of being judged and perceived stigma some of the men might experience.
“Think about it this way, if you go the herbs way, no one will see you and judge you because you do it at your own convenience, while going to hospital means you really have to break it down to the doctor for you be understood and treated which is shameful for many of them,” the medic said.
Londiani warned that herbs have no potential to cure STIs, and urged men to go to hospital in order to get prompt treatment, which could save them years of damage and infertility.
“Let them know that medical practitioners are well trained in what they do, especially on issues of confidentiality and so they will attend to them in privacy. Staying out there with active STI will make your life very uncomfortable,” he said.
Prisca Mundia,a mental expert and doctor at the Western Medical Centre, said more often, shame, fear and guilt prevents STI patients from seeking treatment in a hospital.
“It’s worse if they have to go to a hospital closer to their home because they imagine the medics know them or their families, and could easily go spread word about their condition. But we all know doctors don’t do that because they are professionals," she said.
She advises patients to seek help in any hospital or medical facility, which they are comfortable with as long as they don’t stay home untreated.
“We have had scenarios where someone just walks into the bush and comes out with leaves then boil them and drinks in the belief that they are cured. Years later, the young man cannot have children because apparently, the treatment wasn’t effective,” Mundia said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
