Youths aged 15 to 29 years and engage in sex without using condoms are to blame for rising HIV new infections in Tana River County.
Speaking at Malindi ya ngwena village in Chewani location yesterday during the World Aids day, Tana River County HIV/AIDs Coordinator Mr. Martin Kuria said cases of youths and women being infected with HIV/AIDs was rising alarmingly.
Mr. Kuria however regretted that no efforts were being made by the department of Health in Tana River to create awareness among the youths on how to prevent themselves from the virus adding Hola County Referral Hospital also lacked testing kits for HIV/AIDs.
He further said the supply of condoms to areas where youths could access like bars, public toilets and even restaurants had stopped and majority of youth being poor could not afford to buy the same and ended up engaging in unprotected sex thus acquiring or transmitting the virus.
“The youths are not able to get condoms cheaply resulting into the increase of HIV/AIDs cases in the county,” Kuria stressed.
He appealed to the National government through Health Ministry to start funding HIV/AIDs awareness creation and prevention programmes to reduce transmission of the virus countrywide.
