Act on rising HIV and Aids infections, Kagwe tells Nyong'o

Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o speaking during World Mental Health Day in Kisumu last year. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe wants action taken to reduce the high HIV and Aids prevalence rate in Kisumu County.

Mr Kagwe asked Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o to look into the prevalence rate which stands at 17 per cent in the county, against the national prevalence rate of five per cent.

Kagwe said while Covid-19 positivity rate had gone down in the county, of interest is HIV and Aids prevalence which needs concerted efforts to stop, particularly among the youthful population.

“There is need therefore for us, including community health workers, to engage the community and to ensure that our young people are not perishing as a result of HIV and Aids,” he said at the Lumumba sub-County Hospital after laying a foundation stone for a cancer centre at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“This something that we must collectively bring down. I am impressed that we have a blood centre here which will go a long way in reducing deaths arising from sickle cell anaemia.”

Kagwe was in Kisumu for the signing of an inter-governmental agreement between the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) and Kisumu County Government that will pave the way for the establishment of comprehensive cancer and blood disorders centre in Kisumu.

According to Kagwe, 42,900 Kenyans are diagnosed with cancer annually, and out of these, 27,000 people die.

“This is a global standard institution that we have started in Kisumu,” said Kagwe.

“We started in Nairobi with the construction of an integrated molecular unit. And the second was in Mombasa which we launched with President Uhuru Kenyatta, and now this that I have laid foundation stone for.”

He said the project will be completed before August, and President Kenyatta and ODM Leader Raila Odinga will open it.