STATE TO SPEND SH40M TO COUNT GAY KENYANS

Source: Elizabeth Mwai (The Standard)

KENYA - 29 October 2009:The Government will spend Sh40 million on a research to establish the number of gay Kenyans.

The survey, set to begin in December till June next year, is the first of its kind.

On Tuesday, National Aids and STD Control Programme (Nascop) director Nicholas Muraguri said the survey would be done in conjunction with the National Population Council.

"We cannot continue excluding this group identified as a key driver to new HIV/Aids infections," said Dr Muraguri.

In an interview with The Standard, Muraguri said establishing the population of men who have sex with men would facilitate development of interventions.

Apart from knowing their population, Muraguri said the study was aimed at understanding their behavioural practices, condom use and risk factors.

Murgauri said it is believed majority is married for purposes of trying to hide their preferences.

"We want to know how many partners do they usually have, are they married, do they use drugs and what�s their care seeking behaviour," said Muraguri.

Hot spot

Currently, the gay hotspot is believed to be Coast Province, Nairobi and tourist sites, including game reserves.

Muraguri said gay men had been known to have an almost five times higher the national HIV prevalence than the normal average

He said social exclusion has globally been identified as a major contributor to ill health among gays.

He said the Government finds it challenging to tackle the spread of new infections estimated at 100,000 cases annually because of ignoring key drivers to the scourge.

Studies have shown 15 per cent of the new HIV infections are attributed to gays.

According to the Mode of Transmission Study conducted at Coast Province in 2007 and results released last year, they were responsible for up to 20 per cent of the new HIV infections in the region.

The most at risk have been identified to be commercial sex workers, truckers, injecting drug users and gays.

Muraguri said the Ethical Review Board would appraise tools for the study.

He said most programmes on gays were mostly driven by NGOs, a situation the Government ought to take charge off.

He said by gathering such information, they would reach out to the group in the fight against spread of HIV and Aids.