Many battles against HIV and AIDS won, but war not over yet – Kenya’s 1st Lady
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta today said that HIV remains the single biggest killer of adolescents despite the many battles won against the scourge since its discovery in the 1980s.
She said the war against the disease must now be fought on a new front that involves rallying all resources at our disposal, spreading correct information about HIV among risk groups, reducing stigma that continues to cling to the disease and openly talking about HIV and AIDS.
“We need to talk about sex, about HIV, about drugs, and about a whole host of issues where our silence as adults and as a society, might be killing our youth and our kids”
The First Lady spoke in Nairobi when she officially opened the three-day 7th International Conference on Peer Education, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS.
She emotionally paid tribute to the 18 year school girl from Busia, Francisca Achieng, who prematurely succumbed to the scourge only a week after reciting a poem about “living with HIV” when the First Lady delivered the 42rd Mobile Clinic to Busia County.
The gathering at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre is organized by the National Organization of Peer Educators (NOPE). It is being attended by delegates from 10 countries including Somalia.
NOPE is a unique forum for stakeholders to learn and share with others innovations and strategies that are working in the prevention of new HIV infections.
The Non Governmental Organization recognizes that the goal of Zero AIDS will be achieved through quality interventions, experience sharing, networking, advocacy, coalition and consensus building.
The First Lady said the war against the disease will not be over until the country realizes zero new infections, zero HIV related deaths and zero stigma against HIV-positive people.
“We have made a lot of progress in our thinking about HIV, in empowering citizens living with HIV and in our quest to eradicate HIV. But despite the progress we’ve made, much remains to be done”, she said.
Since the discovery of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s, said the First Lady, some of the many battles won against the disease include a reduction in stereotypes and stigma, medical breakthroughs including the advent of ARVs that now allow 50 per cent of HIV-positive people to live normal , health and productive lives and ensuring women can give birth to virus-free babies.
She said as a result of concerted efforts by such organizations as NOPE, UNAIDS, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) and the National Aids Control Council (NACC), fear about HIV and AIDS no longer dominates our national dialogue as it used to in previous years.
But the war must be won to stop the scourge from claiming more millions of people as it had done in the past where young and productive people succumbed to the disease , said the First Lady.
She said there are signs that the battle can eventually be won.
“We are registering fewer and fewer casualties. We’re closer to victory that ever before , and I’m convinced that if we keep working together, if we soldier on, we will win this war”, said the First Lady.
She thanked the Peer educators and the many young ambassadors including globally renown Master Elijah Z. Lemaiyan for their focused and dedicated commitment and bravery in fighting HIV and associated stigma publicly.
National Aids Control Council Director Dr Nduku Kilonzo corroborated the observations by the First Lady saying the country is doing badly about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young people aged 15-24.
She however reported that there was significant success on the mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Other speakers including the Principal Secretary for Health Dr Nicholas Muraguri, PEPFAR Co-ordinator Ms Katherine Perry and NOPE Executive Director Philip Waweru talked of hope and compassion for orphans and widows and widowers, openness, the dissemination of correct information and proper Policy Direction.
Other messages dominating the conference included correcting past mistakes that there is no quick scientific “fix” for HIV/AIDS, harmonization of messages against the scourge and stigma, avoiding the criminalization of the disease, youth training and employment.
UN joint Programme on HIV and AIDS representative Dr Prirrko Heinonen said Kenya is doing very well in HIV reduction.
Office Of The First Lady Kenya
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