From: wsargeant@igc.apc.org (Winslow L. Sargeant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:Kenya, tackling AIDS from the roads'
Date: 25 Jul 92 17:11:49 GMT

/* Written 12:09 am  Jul 24, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "KENYA: TACKLING AIDS FROM THE ROADS" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Third World Dvpmnt
Title: KENYA: TACKLING AIDS FROM THE ROADSIDE


an inter press service feature

by horace awori

nairobi, jul 21 (ips) -- kenya is running out of time to get
the pandemic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (aids) under
control.

the failure of 'kemron', an interferon jointly developed by
kenya medical research institute and amarillo cell culture
company of texas in the united states to fight aids, has left
its advocates here embarrassed.

''kemron disrupted our anti-aids campaign'' laments florence
gitae, a programme officer at kenya's aids control centre in the
ministry of health.

when kenyan hospitals started dispensing 'kemron' in 1990,
the ordinary citizen who had begun to take ''the message on aids
seriously, suddenly lost interest'', recalls gitae.

''we were told by the people, especially in nairobi, that we
were lying that there was no cure for the disease. they asked
how the (country's) president (daniel arap moi) could launch a
drug if it was not a cure'', she explained.

some kenyan physicians blame political influence for the
'kemron' disaster.

''politicians characteristically took it upon themselves to
advise the public on the presumed efficacy of the drug because
of expected pecuniary benefits'', charges a nairobi specialist
physician, dr. ouma oburra.

today authorities on aids say the human immunodeficiency
virus (hiv) which causes aids is prevalent throughout kenya.
it is no longer a disease confined to people in the sex
industry alone.

''indiscriminate and casual sex is still rampant in kenya
and aids control still has a long way to go'', says a recent
study undertaken by university of nairobi's institute of
population studies.

according to the report, some doctors believe that talking
about the search for an aids cure ''encourages lax attitudes
among the people''.

latest research shows that there are more than 700,000
cases of hiv infection and 42,000 persons have died of aids in
kenya over the past 10 years. (more/ips)


kenya: tackling (2)

over the next three years, it is estimated that 320,000
kenyans will die of aids-related causes and more than two
million, out of a population of over 24 million, will be
infected with hiv.

however, oburra stresses that whatever the level of research
on aids, people have to be told that the only control for the
disease is responsible sexual behaviour, and avoiding use of
contaminated or shared syringes and needles.

although the use of condoms is alien to the culture of many
people in east africa, the rapid spread of aids has not only
prompted a continuous dissemination of information on the
disease but also distribution of the sheaths to all risk groups
in kenya.

a small market centre, popularly known as ''machinery'' on
the nairobi-mombasa highway has turned into a front line in the
battle against aids.

truckers who patronise joints at the stop-over to see their
so-called ''roadside wives'' are the main target of the
information and education campaign on aids led by a local
businessman, 64-year-old matthew mutisya.

''most of our income is derived from the truckers and we have
to protect our centre'', said mutisya, adding: ''today there is
hardly a bar or lodging house here without stocks of condoms''.

the clergy, business people, teachers and ordinary folk at
''machinery'' have joined forces to check the spread of aids
through contact between bar-girls and truckers hauling loads
from mombasa port to neighbouring countries.

the aids awareness campaign is propelled by the nairobi-based
african medical and research foundation (amref).

''to achieve our aim, we use peer education, letting those
close to the truck drivers and the prostitutes or the 'roadside
wives' discuss the dangers of aids with these truckers'',
amref's project coordinator, solomon nzioka told ips.

''there is a spillover effect from the centre into the
interior. the interior people still mingle with the women who
have been in contact with the truckers and so we have to extend
our education campaign into the interior'', nzioka added.
(end/ips/ha/ar/oa/92)