Kenya to test one million for Aids

More than one million Kenyans are expected to get tested for HIV during a national campaign.
Health ministry officials will go door-to-door in a bid to more than double the number of people checked since voluntary testing clinics were set up in 2004.

The three - week drive is expected to target more than 77 per cent of adults in all types of relationships who are unaware that their partner is HIV positive. In an effort to push up the number of people tested, the health ministry will be rolling out testing at night, at workplaces, from door-to-door, and in mobile test centres across the country.Public Health and Sanitation minister Beth Mugo says too many Kenyans are dying not because they have Aids but because they simply do not know they are HIV-positive and therefore are not getting treatment. She urged Kenyans to visit voluntary counselling and testing centres to be set up in most towns, residential areas and social places.“We can not claim to protect our loved ones yet we do not want to get tested,” Mrs Mugo said, adding that couple testing was important to reduce the rate of new infections in steady relationships.

The campaign, launched yesterday has already met opposition from people in a country where someone can be deemed promiscuous for even taking a test.Between 7% and 8.5% of the adult population suffers from HIV/Aids. One of the reasons why that figure is so vague is because the vast majority of Kenyans simply have not been tested.  That is why the government has launched its latest programme called Jitambue Leo - literally "know yourself". Teams of health department workers will knock on as many doors as they can over the next three weeks, hoping to reach one million people. Last year, in a similar campaign last year, 700,000 people were tested.

The National Aids and STI Control Programme head Nicholas Muraguri said that young people are one of the most vulnerable groups and called for vigorous campaigns to encourage them to get tested. Denial that they are at risk is s one of the barriers in controlling new infections among those aged between 20 and 24 years, he said.“Women are four times more at risk of contracting HIV compared to their male counterparts,” Dr Muraguri told the country’s Daily Nation newspaper.According to the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey, there was an increase in HIV awareness among those aged between 15 and 49 years although two thirds had not been tested.The HIV prevalence among women stood at 11 per cent compared to 3.9 per cent among men.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children