Many women come to the harbor to sell sex for food to willing fishermen. HIV spreads quickly in this environment, as does the TB which often accompanies it. MSF cares for TB patients at Homa Bay Hospital and also works at hospitals and clinics in Marindi, Pala and God Kojowe, areas of Homa Bay. HIV is not the only problem Kenya faces. In summer 2000, MSF launched a project to fight the disease kala azar in the Dadaab area of Kenya.
Malaria is also a recurring problem, especially in and around Kisumu.
This year MSF set up an emergency preparedness program in Kisii, which includes systematic malaria testing, treatment and epidemiological analysis. Northern and eastern Kenya were badly affected by the hunger crisis that touched the Horn of Africa in late 1999 and early 2000. MSF responded with supplementary food distributions in Turkana. Further east, in Mandera and Dadaab, MSF provides health care and nutrition programs for Somali refugees who have fled their country's civil war. The programs encompass basic access to care, primary care and dispensaries, and involve cooperation with local community organizations.