The latest Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS) 2012 has shown a decline in the number of people affected with HIV. The preliminary report that was released today indicates a decline in national prevalence among adults aged 15 to 64 years, from 7.2 per cent in 2007 to 5.6 percent in 2012.
This is good news for partners who have continued to put in a lot of effort to address the pandemic. Women however continue to bear the brunt of high infections with data showing that HIV prevalence in women stands at 6.9 per cent compared to 4.4 per cent from their male counterparts. Women are also more likely to go for an HIV test as the report indicates that 80 per cent of women reported having been tested for HIV as opposed to 63 per cent of men.
For the first time the survey measured HIV prevalence in children aged 18 months to 14 years and found that 1 in every 100 children were HIV positive. Among the children who tested positive, only 41 per cent of the parents were aware that the child was affected therefore 59 per cent the infected children were not placed on anti retroviral therapy.
AMREF Kenya has continued to work with communities to bring down the HIV prevalence especially among the vulnerable populations in the country. AMREF has continued to change lives through its community-based projects around the country. Take the case of seventeen year old Ivy Chebet from Koibatek in Baringo County. When Ivy was born she was very sickly and constantly in and out of hospital. When she was four, her mother passed away leaving her and her two siblings under the care of their grandmother.
Taking on three other children was not easy for her grandmother who was already living with seven of her own children notwithstanding Ivy who was constantly plagued by one opportunistic illness after the other, calling for constant care. In 2010, her grandmother was visited by a Community Health Worker from the APHIAplus Nuru ya Bonde project and advised her to have Ivy tested for HIV. The results turned out positive. Her grandmother was determined not to lose her and she was immediately started on anti retroviral at the Solian Health Centre.
Today, Ivy’s frail form shows just how compromised her immune system is. Although she still suffers bouts of illnesses every now and then, the ARV medication has definitely made her live a healthier life. “I ensure that Ivy keeps to a proper diet and that she takes her medication consistently,” says her grandmother. The community health worker has been a constant encouragement to them. Ivy wants to be a doctor when she grows up and despite her weak voice, the determination in her eyes shines bright. With proper responses to the pandemic those infected can dare dream.
AMREF is a transparent organisation distributing funds of up to $85 million per year.
