Use peer education to fight HIV among youth, First Lady says

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta inspects a parade by girl guides from State House Primary School during the official opening of the 7th International Conference on Peer Education, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS at KICC on June 15, 2016. She called on adults to educate the youth on sex issues. PHOTO | ANTHONY NJAGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The conference has brought together delegates from various parts of the world.
  • Mrs Kenyatta called on adults to educate the youth on sex-related issues.
  • The first Lady emphasised on the need for collective commitment to win the war on HIV/Aids which has claimed millions worldwide.
  • She called for more concerted efforts in the war against the disease.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta Wednesday took the HIV awareness message among adolescents a notch higher when she opened an international conference on peer education, sexuality, HIV/Aids in Nairobi.

She called for the use of peer education to fight the scourge that is affecting many young people.

"HIV/Aids is the single biggest killer of adolescents and that is a worrying reality. Addressing this requires rallying all the resources at our disposal.

“We need peer education. We need to spread information about HIV among the risk groups,” Mrs Kenyatta said.

Speaking at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Mrs Kenyatta called on adults to educate the youth on sex-related issues.

“We need to talk about sex, about HIV, about drugs, and about a host of issues where our silence as adults and as a society is killing our youth and our children," Mrs Kenyatta added.

GLOBAL CONFERENCE

The 7th Edition of the National Organisation of Peer Educators International Conference on Peer Education, Sexuality, HIV and Aids, which is being held at the KICC, ends of Friday.

The conference has brought together delegates from various parts of the world.

They seek to chart the way forward on HIV prevention from the perspective of experts, institutions and governments besides sharing experiences.

The first Lady emphasised on the need for collective commitment to win the war on HIV/Aids which has claimed millions worldwide.

“I am thankful though, that since the discovery of HIV in the 1980s, we are winning many battles,” Mrs Kenyatta said.

LIVING POSITIVELY

She said stereotyping and stigma have gone down with medical breakthroughs, including the advent of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), allowing 50 per cent of HIV positive people to live normal, healthy and productive lives and ensuring that women with HIV can have children without passing on the virus to them.

“Through the Beyond Zero campaign, I have visited 42 counties in Kenya and I have met and interacted with many Kenyans living positively with HIV,” she told the delegates.

She called for more concerted efforts in the war against the disease.

“Today, we are closer to victory than ever [before]. I am convinced that if we keep working together, if we soldier on, we will win this war,” she said.