Construction projects aiding in new HIV infections at the Coast, says health official

The construction of key government infrastructure projects at the coast has contributed significantly to an increase in HIV infections, a health official has said.

Construction of the standard gauge railway, the Lamu Port and Dongo Kundu bypass have created new infections among workers and residents based in those areas, the National Aids Control Council (Nacc) Coast coordinator Julius Koome said.

Health facilities based in those regions are recording what he termed ‘high HIV positivity’.

“We are experiencing an upsurge in HIV among truck drivers and construction workers along the Dongo Kundu area where construction is going on, the standard gauge railway and the Lamu Port.

“Girls are moving all the way from Lunga Lunga border, parts of Kilifi and Malindi to these stretches and corridors. The health facilities in those areas are indicating a rise in HIV,” he noted.

YOUNG GIRLS GETTING INFECTED

There is also an increase of younger girls who may be acquiring the virus through offering sex services for as low as Sh10 in town centers and estates.

“Out of every three young adults who are HIV positive, two of them are young girls.

“There are so many pubs especially in the estates and so many young girls are ready to offer sex for as low as Sh10 or Sh20 and willing men who are ready to buy,” he said during an interview at his office on Wednesday.

He said that they are currently planning HIV awareness programmes in those areas in conjunction with other stakeholders so as to alleviate the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, Mr Koome said the government is planning to address gender based violence (GBV), cultural practices and scale up girl-child education as part of new strategies of reducing HIV prevalence in the country.

This follows the realisation that there is a near constant rate of new HIV infections recorded yearly despite numerous interventions put in place to address the scourge, he said.

INTERVETION PLANS

Other intervention plans include training traditional birth attendants to aid in fighting HIV.

Despite purchasing condoms annually and funding community HIV support groups and creating awareness of the virus, new infections are still occurring, the Nacc official pointed out.

“We have stagnated at between 90,000 to 100,000 new HIV infections for the past 10 years. This shows that we are not doing very well in containing new HIV infections,” he added.

He said that their statistics are showing that more girls are acquiring HIV through practices such as early marriages, rape, defilement, wife inheritance and female genital mutilation (FGM).

These are documented in the new Kenya Aids Strategic Framework that seeks to drastically reduce new HIV infections by 75 per cent and AIDS related mortality by 25 per cent in the next five years, he added.

He noted that Mombasa alone has 1,600 annual new HIV infections, 171 of whom are infants who have acquired HIV from their infected mothers.