Church groups fear growing HIV emergency in Kenya

none 14 Фев 2008 – 10:32

by Natalie Siniora

By Fredrick Nzwili

Nairobi, 6 February (ENI)--Church-based organizations working on HIV and AIDS in Kenya have warned of an emergency linked to the pandemic, as the country's political crisis has led to thousands of HIV-positive people taking refuge in camps.

"The situation is really bad. We fear many new infections in the camps,"

Jacinta Maingi, the regional coordinator of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa told Ecumenical News International on 6 January. "Rape is also prevalent here," said Maingi, whose group enables churches in Africa to access resources about the pandemic.

More than 300 000 people have been displaced and more than 1000 killed in the violence, which broke out after the 27 December presidential elections.

Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner but opposition leader Raila Odinga says the poll was rigged.

On 4 February, the World AIDS Campaign warned of the effects of the crisis on people living with HIV and those who are vulnerable to infection.

The campaign said many people living with HIV had been forced to discontinue their daily treatment of anti-retrovirals because they could not easily access the clinics that are providing treatment, due to the violence or to displacement. In other cases, people had lost their medical documentation, which they needed to access the medicines.

Church-based groups, their partners and other international organizations have mobilised to provide anti-retroviral drugs in the 130 camps, Maingi said. However, some infected persons were refusing to collect the drugs for fear of discrimination.

"They don't want to be exposed because of stigma," said Maingi. "It is all round suffering for these people."

Cases of rapes of women and children, and sexual assaults on men have increased, making people more vulnerable to infection, the World AIDS Campaign stated.

"This is totally unacceptable, but we must realise conditions in the camps are not conducive for the protection of women and girls," said Paul Mbole, the Norwegian Church Aid coordinator for Kenya and Uganda, who also chairs the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Kenya Forum.

Elizabeth Akinyi, a member of the World AIDS Campaign's global steering committee based in Kenya, said, "We are especially concerned for women, who often times face these challenges in addition to being the primary care givers for their children. It is critical for people living with HIV and AIDS, especially women, to not only have access to treatment, and other basic needs such as food, but also that they not be afraid to seek the help they need." [427 words]

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To read the World AIDS Campaign's statement on the HIV emergency in Kenya click here.

To read the ICW's statement on the HIV emergency in Kenya click here.

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