Wajir launches campaign against HIV, teen pregnancies, GBV as new infections emerge in ASAL counties

Wajir County, in collaboration with the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC), has launched a campaign to fight against the triple threat of HIV/AIDS infection, adolescent pregnancies and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

Speaking in Wajir town, Douglas Bosire, the acting CEO of NSDCC, said Wajir and other ASAL counties in the region were facing threats of new HIV infections, hence the need to address the emerging threat was necessary.

He said nationally, the government and donor partners have done well for the past four decades to reduce the rate of infection and scale up treatments.

However, he noted that the ASAL counties of Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Garissa and Turkana were never given much intervention due to their low HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.

"We concentrated on the high burden regions, including Coast, Western Nyanza and Nairobi, and now we are witnessing cases of high transmission in the ASALs counties, especially cases of child to mother transfusion," he noted.

To address the emerging threat through a multi-sectoral approach, he said NSDCC partnered with Wajir County.

"The campaign to end the triple threat of GBV, HIV/AIDS, and adolescent pregnancies will reach the sub-county level in Wajir," he said.

He further disclosed that NSDCC will extend similar partnership campaigns to fight against the triple threat.

Wajir County executive committee member for health and sanitation, Habiba Ali, highlighted the increasing cases of HIV that she said needed a more unified and strategic approach to reduce the infection.

"The prevalence rate in Wajir county is still low at 0.2 per cent, but we are now experiencing new infections," she said.

Habiba also expressed concern about the high school dropouts of young girls facing challenges of adolescent pregnancies, who needed an intervention.

She also highlighted rampant cases of GBV in Wajir County that called for concerted efforts among various stakeholders.

She cited the ongoing Garissa High Court case of the 17-year-old Gaala Aden Abdi, who was brutally murdered after she refused a forced marriage in Wajir County, as one of the challenges of GBV within the county.

The county health executive member expressed hope that the launched campaign will help to reduce the triple threat.

Other Topics To Read

• GBV as new infections emerge in ASAL counties
• Headlines
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• Wajir County
• Gender Based Violence
• GBV kenya
• HIV/AIDS
• HIV kenya
• wajir HIV/AIDS statistics
• HIV infections wajir
• SGBV coast
• HIV infections
• National Syndemic Diseases Control Council
• Gender-based violence in Kenya
• GBV cases
• Wajir launches campaign against HIV
• teen pregnancies

During the event, traditional dances, songs and poems were used to create awareness on the emerging triple threat.