Kenya is not doing well in its fight against HIV in adolescents and children, despite the overall national and international gains made in tackling the disease.
“Out of the 72,000 new HIV infections recorded in 2015, about 35,000 of these occurred among adolescents and children. This means that one out of every two new infections was in a young person, ” said Dr Nduku Kilonzo, the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) Director during the official opening ceremony of the 7th International Conference on Peer Education, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS in Nairobi on June 15, 2016.
According to a recent Lancet report, HIV/AIDS is now the single largest killer of adolescents and young people worldwide.
Speaking at the same event, the First Lady of Kenya, Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, who was also the Chief Guest acknowledged the brave fight and contributions that the government, donors, and all other stakeholders have made in the fight against the HIV epidemic.
“We have done a lot as a country. However, we will not rest until we reach zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths, and zero stigma and discrimination in our society,” she said.
The programming of HIV prevention and treatment for young people is challenging due to their constantly evolving habits and lifestyles. Coupled with the high risk of stigma and behavioural differences across regions and cultures, health programmers have failed to create a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model to counter the HIV epidemic in young people.
Combating Adolescent AIDS in Kenya
In February 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed Kenya’s commitment in combating HIV/AIDS among adolescents, through the increase of domestic resources for the AIDS response, and improving HIV prevention, treatment, essential health care and counselling services for adolescents. This was announced during the launch of the ALL IN global initiative, that aims to address the AIDS epidemic among adolescents.
The PEPFAR Coordinator in Kenya, Ms Katherine Perry spoke about the DREAMS project which has been rolled out in the country. This is an ambitious US$ 385 million partnership to reduce HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in 10 sub-Saharan African countries, a demographic hardest hit by HIV. In 2015, a quarter of the new HIV infections recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, occurred among girls between the ages of 15 and 24.
Last year, NACC launched a three-year fast track strategy to end new HIV infections, AIDS related deaths and stigma and discrimination in adolescents and young people. This plan aims to reduce new infections by 40%, HIV-related deaths by 15% and stigma and discrimination by 25% by 2017.
Saving the Lives of Kenyan Youth
CHS recognises that young people are at an increased risk of HIV infection due to their exposure to risky sexual behaviour and thus seeks to offer optimal health solutions for this special group.
CHS has trained and supported 30 adolescent peer educators and members of 249 community based groups for adults, adolescents, children and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), across 105 supported facilities in Central Kenya.
Over 1,300 adolescents have been enrolled in care, with about 800 of these enrolled in psychosocial support groups.
