Kenya Minstry of Health pushes faithfulness

Being married doesn’t protect you from HIV; in fact, the pandemic is spreading rapidly among married people. This is the core message of a new campaign in Kenya to discourage sex outside marriage.

Stop relationships on the side; avoid HIV - is the name of the new drive backed by the Ministry of Health and Aids organisations.

Your bit on the side could have their own bit on the side who could be HIV-positive, a series of print adverts warn cheating married people.

A string of TV spots feature a couple sitting in their living room watching an HIV message on fidelity on their TV. The woman is warned that if her husband is very secretive with his phone, it may be because he is cheating. The man is warned that if the woman is keen to change the channel when the HIV message comes on, she may be hiding something.

"Our campaign is necessitated by the increasing number of infections in marriages," said Lucy Maikweki of Population Services International, a social marketing organisation involved in the drive. A 2007 study by Kenya's University of Nairobi found that 17% of men and eight per cent of women reported having extramarital relationships.

The campaign targets men like Joshua, a sales representative who says he is happily married but gets bored with a single sexual partner. For the past year, reports UN agency IRIN, Joshua has been having a relationship with a young university student.

"I just need a break from the family boredom, so we meet in a night club every weekend where we have a good time and later get to spend a night somewhere; after that I go home to my wife and children," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Joshua does not use condoms with either his wife or mistress. "Initially (my girlfriend) and I used a condom while having sex but we later stopped because I thought I could trust her enough," he said. "Using a condom with my wife when I get back home is unthinkable, because that will definitely lead to mistrust."

Less than one in five HIV-positive adults in Kenya were aware of their HIV status, and more than half had never been tested for HIV at all, according to figures from the Non-governmental organisation, Aidsmap.

Written by Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children