Prevention, Control and Mitigation of the Impact of Hiv/aids Epidemic

National AIDS control council of Kenya (NACC), was established through an act of parliament to provide policy and strategic framework for mobilizing and controlling and resources for the prevention of spread of HIV and AIDS and taking care of the infected and affected persons.

The following would be the measures I would propose in areas of prevention, control and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic in various sectors in the country:

I would propose for the push of enactment of important policies that would ensure effective response. That will include and touch on a few and not limited to critical areas that are discussed herein.

Different sectors of the society have shown a lot of willingness to supporting the efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS. As a consultant I would push for the building and maintaining of relationships from all sectors of the society including but not limited to, non-governmental organizations, the government and government agencies, faith based, civil societies, the private sector, institutions of learning, and the community. This would ensure that the response is effective and thus not just left to the government and government agencies alone. This would also ensure that programs are not duplicated in the same areas.

Human rights violation has been rampant in most sector of the country. This includes discrimination of people who are infected with HIV/AIDS by denying them rights like insurance covers, employment etc. Government forces like the police force, Kenya defense forces among others have failed to observe human right by denying people living with HIV and AIDS right to join the disciplined forces despite having such laws that prevent discrimination. As a consultant I would ensure Promotion of human rights and ensure that they are respected and protected. This will help combat discriminations and therefore combat stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

Our cultural practices like mass male circumcision, wife inheritance to mention a few, have contributed to the spread of HIV aids in our society. I would introduce programmes that would address our cultural behaviors while considering the role they may play in helping prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

It is said that the shoe wearer know where it pinches. I would, as a consultant, recommend involvement of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the design, implementation and evaluation of Strategies geared towards the prevention and addressing the different needs.

Women have been perceived as a weak gender and thus in some instances they have no right to making any sexual decision. This has therefore exposed them too HIV and AIDS. Promoting gender equality in the society by addressing gender issues that make women and girls more vulnerable would be a key thing in ensuring prevention of HIV and AIDS. This will be achieved by involving the male gender in these efforts.

Knowledge is power. To ensure significant reduction in the spread of HIV/ AIDS I would propose the support of efforts geared towards creating awareness of how HIV/ AIDS is spread and how it can be can be prevented.

It would also be important to promote programmes that are geared towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS in key target areas of the population.

Enough has not been done in the promotion of condom use. I would propose the pushing of the involved agencies to provide affordable effective condoms to the most affected populace of the country. Ensuring that the users of condoms are well educated in their use would also be key to prevention.

Introduction