Let’s apply facts to the ‘condoms for kids’ debate
What you need to know:
- Cervical cancer is not as talked about as it should be. It is the number one cancer in Kenya (not that there is a prize) and the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in women of ages 15 – 44.
- The Ministry of Health plans to dole out free cervical cancer vaccinations in girls from as young as 9 years old nationwide, starting in Kitui.
- People are misguided into believing that the bill says contraceptives should be handed out in schools.
Unprotected sex.
It would be a reach to say everybody's doing it, but judging by our procreation rates, shocking studies and the President's "condoms for kids" initiative, there are quite a number.
One of these studies, the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey 2012, says that among the 6.7 per cent of children aged 12-14 who have had sex, 70 per cent had never used a condom, even if a similar proportion, 72 per cent, knew where condoms could be found.
So children as young as 12 are having sex, and without condoms.
This, of course, increases the infection rates for everything: pregnancy, HIV/Aids, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and the one that everyone forgets, HPV or the Human Papillomavirus.
HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer. Technically, HPV is sexually transmitted (though it can be passed on through oral sex as well). Although men can be carriers, they don't get it, and the more sexual partners a man or a woman has, the higher at risk the woman is.
Cervical cancer is not as talked about as it should be. It is the number one cancer in Kenya (not that there is a prize) and the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in women aged 15–44.
PEOPLE ARE MISGUIDED
The numbers are pretty high and pretty scary, which is why I am pleased that the government of Kenya is finally doing something about it.
The Ministry of Health plans to dole out free cervical cancer vaccinations in girls from as young as 9 years old nationwide, starting in Kitui.
If this plan is actually implemented, it will be one of the few times I stand behind health-care strategy and development in our country.
Now, I hear the arguments that say nine-year-olds are not having sex. This is just plain ignorance because the numbers show it and the scary stories online show it.
As a parent, it does not make sense to bury your head in the sand and expose your child to all sorts of dangers.
The reason the Reproductive Health Bill is taking so long is because of factors such as these. People are misguided into believing that the bill says contraceptives should be handed out in schools.
It doesn't, by the way.
But that does not mean you should not teach your children about sex — especially as they are obviously having it.
This definitely means you should not stop your daughter from getting the vaccine that could one day save her life, your opinions aside.
Information on reproductive health and the medicines and vaccines that affect it, in my opinion, is essential as early as possible.
This is a step in the right direction, and everything starts with a step.
Twitter: @AbigailArunga
