Kilifi County Executive Committee (CEC) member for health Anisa Omar said that one in four gays is infected with HIV and the numbers continue to rise despite measures to curb new infections.
She explains that currently there are 12,000 gays in Malindi town alone with 4,000 of them being infected with HIV and AIDS.
A medical report shows that new HIV infections were recorded among teenagers between the age of 16 and 25 years.
Dr. Omar says that Kilifi County has set up plans to curb this menace. They are distributing lubricants and condoms to the residents as a preventive measure.
“We are issuing them with lubricants and condoms but most of them due to influence on drugs they continue to have unprotected sex and for our teenagers they just engage in raw sex oblivious of the consequences,” she said.
According to poverty levels and the night life coupled with poor education are some of vices that are being attributed for increased HIV infections in Kilifi.
“As you are aware, the anal cavity was not meant for sex penetration but due to human nature to explore new areas, the area is sensitive and vulnerable to HIV infections,” she added.
Statistics show 14,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded in Kilifi in 2017 alone.
The HIV prevalence in Kilifi County stands at 4.2 percent translating to 4 people in 100 that are infected.
James Atito, a family planning coordinator at Stretcher Youth Organization, said that the use of family planning should be utilized to limit the number of births, because many children are born with HIV.
Atito blamed politicians for propagating population increase without bearing in mind the aspect of HIV infections.
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