By Sean Yoes
Afro Staff Writer
Political unrest and violence have made it more difficult for 300,000 Kenyans with HIV/AIDS to receive treatment and medicine.
Last week Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga reached an accord to share power and end violence sparked by last December’s national elections, which were marred by widespread allegations of vote rigging. Yet, despite the new pact tribal violence erupted last weekend in the Rift Valley’s Trans Nzoia region and claimed at least 15 lives according to reports out of Nairobi the country’s capital.
Since December battles between rival factions have led to more than 1,000 deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
Yet, despite the chaos and bloodshed the battle against AIDS and HIV continues in Kenya, a country ravaged by the deadly diseases.
“The first case of AIDS was actually identified in Kenya in 1984 and over the next five to 10 years there was a rapid increase in the number of cases—by the year 2000 it was as many as two million Kenyans who were infected,” said Dr. Isaac Malonza, deputy country director for Jhpiego in Kenya. Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Malonza, a native Kenyan, has worked in HIV/AIDS research and treatment for 15 years.
“I help design, manage and implement our programs—many of our programs support the Ministry of Health to provide healthcare,” Dr. Malonza said.
The sporadic violence that has forced thousands to flee has created a general sense of instability throughout the country and magnified the challenges of treating HIV/AIDS patients.
“It’s estimated that about 300 thousand Kenyans are in need of HIV treatment and only about half of them are currently able to access treatment,” Dr. Malonza said. “So, one of the challenges really has been fighting for availability of drugs in the communities where people live,” Dr. Malonza said. “Eighty percent of all communities are in rural areas spread all over the country, which is a huge challenge.”
But, perhaps the most immediate challenge in battling HIV/AIDS in Kenya lies in its urban areas. “The main areas that have been affected by the ongoing unrest are the slum areas of Nairobi, Eldoret and Burnt Forest in the Rift Valley Province, and Kisumu in Nyanza Province,” according to a report by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. “Coast province—including the main town of Mombasa—and Western Province have also been affected by violence, looting, burning of houses and reported incidences of rape,” the report states.
But, even before last December’s unrest began HIV/AIDS patients living in these “slums,” faced many obstacles to treatment and medicine.
“Even where the treatment is available being able to have a team at first level health facilities, a team that will be able to provide care and treatment for people that need treatment—that has been one of the greatest challenges,” Dr. Malonza said.
“These communities have an unmet need for HIV/AIDS health care services, reproductive health care services and other services, despite being located in the midst of bustling urban centers,” according to a recently published Jhpiego report.
“Being able to prepare health workers to be able to offer high quality HIV care—this is where Jhpiego has really taken the lead to work with the Ministry of Health to help build that human capacity for frontline health workers to be able to have the knowledge and the skills to offer this treatment,” Dr. Malonza said.
Despite the multiple adversities faced by Kenya in battling the HIV/AIDS crisis in Kenya, the country has made some strides in recent years and months.
“The national prevalence of HIV was estimated to have dropped to 5.1% in 2006 from a high of 10% in the late 1990’s,” According to a recent report by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. “In the last year or so we’ve been able to start HIV treatment in over 70 new facilities and that is one of our great successes,” Dr. Malonza said.
But, he argues Kenya’s political unrest threatens to disrupt the tenuous progress the country has made in HIV/AIDS treatment.
“One of the fears that we have because of the current political instability is that the gains that we have had over the last five to10 years can actually rapidly be eroded.”