Over 81pc do not know their HIV status, says official

More than 81 per cent of people in Kilifi County do not know their HIV status, a senior health official has said.

Speaking at a workshop attended by chiefs and assistant chiefs from Malindi division, the co-ordinator of HIV and STDs in Kilifi Fauz Ibrahim called on residents to take HIV tests.

He also urged local administrators to help in creating awareness in the community about their HIV statuses, especially among commercial sexual workers and men having sex with men in the society.

Mr Ibrahim said the key population identified as commercial sex workers, homosexuals and injecting drug users had the highest risk of contracting and transmitting the virus.

The group, Ibrahim added, also had the least access of prevention, care and treatment services because their behaviours were often stigmatised and criminalised.

"Over 81 per cent of people among the key population in Kilifi County don't know their HIV statuses and are at a very high risk of getting infected with the virus," he said.

"As a department of health, our major job is to offer services to anyone that walks in through our doors, even those who are stigmatised by the community.

"It's very unfortunate that even after trying to follow up on their activities and educating them, the community is still resistant because they keep telling us we as health workers are encouraging and supporting what they are doing.

"All we are doing is trying to help this section of the community. Most of them are afraid of talking about what they are going through, yet all we want is to reach the zero infection," said Ibrahim.

The administrators were urged to help in educating and informing the community during public barazas about the importance of getting tested.A large population of men in the Coast region, according to health records, are believed to engage in sex with other men.

The local administrators were also asked to monitor expectant mothers in the society and ensure they were put on anti-retroviral treatment.

In particular, the chiefs were called upon to make sure they sensitised families about the disease as many women were discarding treatment for fear of being discovered by their family members and being stigmatised.

They were also told to take a keen interest in drug users who were infected, urging them to go for testing and counselling on how to live positively with the infection.