In the last five years, the fight against HIV and AIDS in Kitui County has registered impressive results. The county government is calling upon sustained fight to eradicate the epidemic.
The rate of HIV infections has reduced from 4.5 per cent in the year 2018 to 3.3 this year. That's a drop of 1.2 per cent.
The mother to child transmission in HIV has gone down from 17 per cent to 10.9 per cent over the same period. This has been due to partnership between the Kitui County Government and a USA organization called CDC (Center for Disease Control)
HIV and AIDS has been the deadly disease to Africans in previous years since the first case was diagnosed. It has been the epidemic that has affected people of all sections in society.
HIV being one of the major causes of mortality has caused tremendous damage in many households affecting children, youths, men and women in the community.
It's a disease that has caused pressure and urgent need for interventions in the Health sector requiring a lot resources to manage, treat and prevent.
Kitui County has not been spared by HIV. It has been a traumatizing disease to many but for the last 15 years where different organisations have been chipped in to cooperate with the Ministry of Health reducing the pandemic adverse effects.
The HIV infections have dropped in Kitui County from 4.5 per cent in 2018 to 3.3 this year. That is a drop of 1.2 per cent.
According to Jennifer Gabriel, the director for Center for Disease Control (CDC), a USA government organisation, they have taken an initiative in Kitui County in partnership with the county government for 15 years to prevent, detect and respond to HIV threats.
The CDC has been supporting the government financially where in the last three months they donated KSh 640Million to support the initiative.
"One of our big programs we do here in Kitui county is with Presidency Emergence Plan for Aids relief (PEPAP) which works for HIV prevention, care and treatment. We also work to strengthen the hospital system in monitoring and evaluating human resources for health laboratory work and systems have strong programs." said Jennifer while addressing the press.
Minister for Health sector in Kitui county Ruth Koki confirmed that CDC has helped the county to control HIV seeiny a positive impact towards the patients where they got ways in which they control HIV from spreading from the infected to uninfected, from mother to child and got better ways of expanding the lifespan for the infected.
" For the years we have beens working in partnership with CDC, they have been helping out a lot and that's why we are in this state of HIV status of the county. This organisation is about to stop funding and supporting us in control of this incurable disease and I urge the county government to chip in and manage these strategies that we have for disease control and fully support the ministry to keep on reducing the infection of HIV" she said.
STORY By JOSPHINE MWENDE
MWINGI TIMES for timely and authoritative news.
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