Ending AIDS: Targeting Men, Boys
By Sharon Atieno
As part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is committed to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. The goal is to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero discrimination.
With about six years remaining, Kenya is determined to achieve this goal by targeting men and boys, who accounted for nearly 16 new HIV infections daily in 2023.
“For the longest time and if you can look at the programs around, we’ve really focused on the girl child, which is not bad. We are not dropping that, we will continue focusing on the girl child, but we can’t reach our goal without also bringing on board men and boys.”
-Jenny Gakii, Program Officer at the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC).
She was speaking during a Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) café in Nairobi, Kenya.
Referring to the 2024 HIV Estimates, nearly four in ten (487, 710) people living with HIV in Kenya are men, Gakii said, noting that almost 1.4 million Kenyans were living with HIV in 2023.
“Men can have many sexual partners, so if we do not look at this number and ensure they are healthy, virally suppressed and not transmitting the virus, we will continually add to the pool of people living with HIV,” she cautioned.
Still, of the 20,478 AIDS-related deaths, men aged 15 years and above account for 8,490 (41%). In 2023, a majority of these deaths (seven in 10) among men occurred in the ages of 35 years and above.
With regards to new infections, approximately seven in ten (4,072) new HIV infections in adult men occurred among 15-34 years in 2023.
“Men exhibit poor health-seeking behaviours translating to poor health outcomes. Even when they are seeking health care services, most don’t adhere to treatment. This is manifested even in the HIV treatment, where you’re finding that as other populations are doing very well in terms of adhering to treatment, our men are still dragging us behind in terms of poor adherence and even those coming to the health facility, come at later stages,” she said.
Gakii observed that there are many intersectional factors influencing health outcomes in men and boys. These stem from socialization, cultural norms, toxic masculinity, stigma and discrimination among others.
According to Churchill Alumasa, Director, Discordant Couples Kenya, most men are breadwinners and as such their job description especially for those living in informal settlements, does not allow them to become sick nor seek treatment as it will interfere with their earnings.
He notes that there is need to reach men at their point of need, including flexible working hours for health facilities such as operating beyond the normal 8.00 a.m. -5.00 p.m. (on weekdays) or during weekends.
“Men do not talk about health in their normal banter. This is dismissed to be for weak people. Thus, we need to ensure that we can get them in spaces where we can excite them to talk about health to improve this behavior,” Alumasa said.
Additionally, he observed that men especially in informal settlements and rural areas have inadequate information on health including HIV. “Media have a strong platform. We need to ensure that we can give men information and not just information but the right information so that they can make proper decisions about their health and their families,” he urged.
As the world gears up for the 2024 World AIDS Day on 1st December, Kenya’s theme is “Racing against time- promoting health and wellbeing of men and boys.”
The key objective of the Day is to leverage the national dialogue to provide public education and services that aim at inspiring citizens to reach the collective goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
The second objective is to accelerate initiatives to end the stubborn challenges of triple threat (HIV, teenage pregnancies and sexual and gender-based violence).