HIV/AIDS Report In Nairobi: These 3 Sub-Counties Are HIV Hotspots

While researchers make efforts to provide a cure for the deadly virus called HIV/AID, new testing campaign shows that Embakasi Lang’ata and Dagoretti records that highest HIV infection than the rest of Nairobi.

According to the campaign test results presented at the HIV conference in Paris, France, prostitutes in these areas the highest HIV infections in the city and in the country’s nine sub-counties.

Not only that, Caroline Ngunu-Gituathi of the Nairobi County Government said that despite having the highest number of prostitutes in Kenya only about 11 per cent had been tested before this exercise.

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The data revealed that there are 29,494 female prostitutes in Nairobi, 11,042 male prostitutes and 6,216 drug injectors with HIV prevalence of 29.3 per cent, 18.2 per cent and 18.3 per cent respectively.

“We carried out a HIV testing and linkage to treatment campaign with an aim of increasing the number of these high risk people who know their HIV status,” Ngunu said, pointing out that the test was carried out on Nairobi hot spots and sex dens, targeting to test 5,000 individuals. this was done in Ruaraka, Starehe, Embakasi, Kasarani, Makadara, Westlands, Kamkunji, Dagoretti and Langata.

This includes Ruaraka, Starehe, Embakasi, Kasarani, Makadara, Westlands, Kamkunji, Dagoretti and Langata with about 6,602 individuals being tested. Women aged 16 to 57 years recorded that highest risk with about 3% of the total number had tested HIV positive.

The highest number of participants came from Ruaraka and Starehe, with more than 1,000 individuals apiece. Next on the line was Embakasi Sub-county with about 850 participants followed by Langata and Dagoretti divisions but Embakasi had the highest HIV positive individuals at about six per cent followed by Dagoretti at 5.6 per cent.

The work was jointly carried out by the Nairobi County Government, UNAIDS – Nairobi, the Ministry of Health and the University of Maryland of the US.

Notwithstanding the numbers, Embakasi recorded the highest HIV positive individuals at about six per cent followed by Dagoretti at 5.6 per cent. With the least number of tested individuals, Langata Sub-county was among those with high levels of HIV infections at 5.5 per cent.

Ruaraka and Starehe and especially the latter which covers the city centre, had the least number of HIV positive individuals at 3.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent. Due to what the team calls a runaway success,

Due to what the team calls a runaway success, Ngunu says county authorities intend to hold such campaigns frequently not minding the difficulties they could encounter in keeping these women at the HIV control project.

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Meanwhile, UNAIDS had at the International AIDS Conference in Paris, issued a report with an encouraging statistic about infected people being able to access HIV treatments.

According to the UNAIDS report, more than half of the 36.7 million people with HIV have access to treatment are taking the antiretroviral medicines needed to suppress the virus. The report cited 53 percent, compared to roughly 27 percent in 2012.

This proves how the HIV/AIDS epidemic is ever-changing.