You can easily contract HIV from ‘kinyozi wa ndevu’

Courtesy

My head was well used to seedy kinyozi places with rickety tin-walls that squeaked with every whiff of the wind. But there was this one time I treated myself to an ‘executive’ haircut at an executive barber shop.
Nothing wrong with being philanthropic to my head, I thought.
I made my way to the revolving black leather seat not knowing that questions like “Should I cut this part? and, “would you love this lotion?” was more than showing customer care because after two hours of having a cut the bill read Sh2,500!

I cleared my throat and called a friend for rescue; feeling very violated – like someone forced themselves into my pocket.
Despite paying all that, it turns out, my safety against contracting HIV and similar illnesses wasn’t quite assured.
“HIV can be transmitted through shaving at the barber,” says Dr Kizito Lubano, a lecturer and private practitioner. “The machines used disrupt hair follicles and cause micro-cuts. This breaks the skin barrier (which is meant to protect us from pathogens) and any microbe can therefore be easily inoculated.”