DR Karen Mburu Expert Pediatric Adolescence HIV management
By: Eric Wanjala
The call for preventing and eradication on the spread of AIDS continued earlier yesterday at Ngong Hills hotel in Nairobi, as stakeholders from the government and private sector converge for the media environment science health agriculture conference.
According to Christine Awour from the NASCOP (National AIDS & STI Control Programme) an agency at the ministry of health ,confirmed that 2023 recorded declining numbers of new infections and called for collective responsibility on ensuring that the number to reduce to zero.
“The year 2023 has seen the total number of new infection being 22,154 where 17,860 are adults and children recording 4,474 these numbers are declining because we used a strategy of training community health workers who have been a great help to patients in terms of accepting to take medication and offering basic counseling.” Said Madam Christine
In 2022 there were 5.6 % new infections the data at the ministry of health and from Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation is reducing due to the availability of (ARTs) Antiretroviral therapy ,where is about treatment of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using anti-HIV drugs regimens .The Drug coverage is about 80% and has adhered to the UN AIDS standards .The data also depicts that 66% of children in Kenya are HIV infected and know their status whereas 44% of the children have viral suppression.
Dr Karen Mburu a health expert on pediatric adolescent HIV management confirmed that the rate of mother to child virus transmission is reducing due to the eradication of misinformation that children breastfeeding from positive mothers was prone to infection.
“You need to know that mothers on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with a sustained undetectable HIV viral load during pregnancy cannot transmit infection since the rate is at less than 1% and breast feeding has the best nutrition since it creates strong immunology and blood composition and nowadays most children born with HIV can live upto 80yrs this is according to latest research by science.” Confirms Dr Karen.
However Elizabeth Atieno a Gender Based Violence advocate has called for national dialogue on addressing the triple threat that faces the HIV /Aids issue in Kenya one being new infections ,gender based violence and adolescence pregnancy quoting the number of new infections among adolescence these year being at 88,853.
“Time has come for everyone to talk tour teenagers on practicing safe sex and ensuring that our teens have information before indulging in these acts,also in most rural setups most of the girls who have kids are from the age of 9 to 15 where at times they receive harsh treatment from the primary health care givers who most of the times judge them from getting pregnant at an early stage.” Lamented Madam Elizabeth.
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