Lethal scourge the greatest challenge

Kenya joins the rest of the world to mark the International Aids Day. This is a moment for reality check.

It provides a chance to examine the status of HIV infection at the national and global levels, reflect on the successes of the interventions to tackle the challenge, and plan for new strategies to push the campaign against a scourge that has defied medical science.

Various activities are lined up countrywide.

One such activity rolled out by the National Aids Control Council last week is a door-to-door voluntary Aids testing and counselling campaign aimed at increasing the number of people aware about their status.

As available figures show, up to 83 per cent of those living with HIV do not know their status, and yet this is the starting point in dealing with the pandemic.

For Kenya, the day should provide a chance for sober reflection on the war against this life-threatening challenge. Some 1.4 million people aged 15-64 are infected. Gains made in the past few years are being reversed, as more new cases of infections emerge.

According to the ‘‘Kenya Aids Indicator Survey 2007’’, the prevalence rate among adults rose from 5 per cent in 2006 to 7.1 per cent.

More women than men are affected, a sign that the challenge continues to manifest itself as a gender issue, too.

Aids also has a regional face. Nyanza recorded the highest prevalence rate in 2007, at 15.3 per cent, followed by Nairobi 9 per cent, Coast 7.9 and Rift Valley 7. North Eastern had the lowest figures at 1 per cent.

Thus, interventions must be focused and targeted.

The worst challenge is the emergence of high numbers of Aids orphans, and households headed by children or elderly grandparents.

The toll on economic and other productive sectors has been clearly documented.

Although many inventions have come through medical science such as anti-retroviral drugs that prolong life, there is no cure yet for Aids.

This is why the campaign must still focus on the ABC approach — abstinence, being faithful and condom use.

The net sum is that Aids remains the single most lethal challenge to humankind.