The Health department in Taita-Taveta County is alarmed following reports that a section of men in the mining zones might be exposing themselves to risk of HIV/Aids infection by recycling condoms after use.
County Executive Committee Member in charge of Health Dr Frank Mwangemi said such practices though not widespread needs to be discouraged.
He attributed it to ignorance on condom use and said efforts to intensify awareness campaigns in the mining areas were underway.
Speaking in Voi on Thursday, Mwangemi said such practices risked eroding the gains the county has achieved in fighting HIV/Aids scourge in the area.
“We will escalate HIV/Aids awareness campaigns to make sure we have created sufficient knowledge and bring prevalence rate to below zero per cent,” he said.
Already, Taita-Taveta has reported a decline in HIV/AIDS prevalence rate from 6.3 per cent in 2014 to 4.1 in 2018. The county has 12,000 cases of persons living with Aids but only 9,000 are on ARVs.
Mwangemi said the department of health was keen on creating enough awareness so that the 3,000 who are not seeking treatment should do so urgently.
The County is classified as a high HIV epidemic county by the national HIV/Aids estimates of 2014.
With a population of 323,867, approximately 11,209 people in the region living with HIV by 2014. HIV prevalence by Kenya Demographic Health Survey in 2014 was 6.3%. This was higher than the national prevalence at 5.9 percent. The county was ranked second in Coast region behind Mombasa which led with 7.5% prevalence rate.
The report noted that the county HIV epidemic was highly feminised with two out of three persons living with HIV being women. In 2016, the county launched its 2016-2020 County HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan which outlined the procedures and programmes to be implemented as part of efforts to bring the number of infections down.
Mwangemi said that despite the decline in HIV/Aids, the county had launched comprehensive awareness anti-HIV campaigns to bring the prevalence rate below one percent. He attributed the success to timely HIV diagnosis, optimal linkages and retention of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and increased awareness on prevention and management of the disease.
He warned that mining areas were classified as hot spots due to the influx of commercial sex workers when miners discovered gemstones. He stated that his department expected to initiate more programmes aimed at containing HIV/Aids prevalence in the region.
When contacted, Bakari Kalema, the chairperson of Mwatate Small-Scale Miners and Dealers, refuted claims of condom recycling stating that all miners in Mkuki, Kasighau and other mining areas had adequate knowledge on condom use. He stated that County Aids Coordinating Committee (CACC) officials supplied the areas with condoms to avoid shortage.
Kalema added that in the past, organisations like Youth and Aids Taita-Taveta Association (YATTA) have conducted extensive barazas in the remote mining areas where services like testing and counselling were offered.
“I had to take a tour to Mkuki unannounced to see if men actually hang out used condoms to dry but there was nothing. Miners know how to use condoms,” he said.
He however added there was need for more information on emerging issues on HIV/AIDS to be cascaded to all the remote and rural areas to ensure all residents had adequate knowledge about the scourge.
County HIV/Aids coordinator Philomena Mwasi said she was aware of the reports but stated that the county had adequate supply of condoms to meet all demands. She revealed that her docket had received another batch of condoms from the regional office and assured the quantities supplied were more than enough.
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“As a county, we don’t have shortage of condoms. They have been distributed in all areas and they are available for free,” she said.
She further said awareness campaigns and sensitisation programmes were still ongoing in all the four sub-counties of Wundanyi, Mwatate, Voi and Taveta.
