HIV/AIDS infections, teenage pregnancies on the rise in Homabay County

The County Government of Homa Bay has urged residents to step up the creation of awareness to curb high rates of teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS infection.

County Director of Disaster Management Eliud Onyango said according to research carried out by the Overseas Development Institute, gender inequality, difficulties in accessing reproductive health services and poverty are fueling high rates of teenage pregnancies and HIV infections in Homa Bay.

Speaking to KNA, Onyango said that there was a need for support from the community in creating awareness to curb teenage pregnancies through counselling youths and advising them to abstain from illicit sex.

“I am calling upon members of the communities around to begin teaching the teens right from the family level because they basically have the solutions to their challenges,” suggested Onyango.

The Director said they were closely working with National AIDS Control Council (NACC) in conjunction with Georgetown University on human-centred design (HCD) in HIV response. He noted that the major perpetrators of teenage pregnancies were fishermen and riders in the bodaboda sector.

County Coordinator of Children’s Services Peter Kutere acknowledged that cases of teenage pregnancies have become rampant, with Ndhiwa Sub-County leading in numbers.

He also added that in the 2020 statistics, Homa Bay County was ranked as recording the second-highest cases of teenage pregnancies in the country.

“It is unpleasant that in the recent statistics, our county was ranked the second in teenage pregnancy cases which also relates to the new HIV/AIDS infection rates,” said Kutere.

He is urging all parties involved in the fight against related cases to come together because one cannot address issues of teenage pregnancy without mentioning gender-based violence and child neglect.