Poor governance a contributor to the spread of HIV

Story by: TROON SILINGI

Discovered in 1959 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, HIV has widely spread across Africa and into other parts of the world to be ranked among the most deadly diseases if not the deadliest. Over the decades HIV prevelance has been a reliable indicator of sexual behavior. But aside from that people have not put into considerations other ways in which it is spread such as unsafe healthcare,unsafe cosmetic practices and various traditional practices. This from my point of view is the reason why many HIV intervention, most of which concentrate entirely on  sexual behavior have been so unsuccessful.
HIV/AIDS cases were first evident in Kenya in late 1970s coming from the Western Equatorial region through Uganda and perhaps through Tanzania too. The fact that Kenyan leaders denied this fact over and over again brings out the point on poor governance as a key factor that has facilitated this spread of the killer disease, reasons best known to them why they had to put at stakes lives of millions of Kenyans at stake in the name of protecting the country. And over the years this disease has claimed lives and continues to claim lives each passing day.
High illiteracy levels has also emerged as a key factor and has its own share in the spread of HIV as more citizens succumb to untimely and premature deaths due to lack of enough and proper awareness or perhaps ignorance in some cases. Anti retroviral  drugs (ARVs) have been  distributed in Kenya courtesy of donor funds but that does not rule out the fact that International Monetary Fund build conditionality into loans known as Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP). SAPs continue to this day under different names. This is despite clear evidence to this day that their effects are almost entirely destructive. As long as developing countries are compelled to reduced health services and quality education, they will be unable to develop or therefore to reduce the spread of HIV.
It is my hope in the meantime that some effort is being made to improve health, education and social services.  These are in serious need of attention, regardless of what the HIV epidemic is doing at the present.  It is only when we come together that we will realise reduced HIV cases not only in Kenya but also in Africa and the world at large only if the above factors are put into serious considerations.

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