THE international condom day was marked in Nairobi yesterday. Stakeholders called on all to embrace condom use as a way of combating HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Deputy director of medical services in the Ministry of Health Martin Sirengo said the day was strategically placed to coincide with valentines day.
The Valentine’s Day is celebrated world wide today.
He said partners should learn to be faithful, abstain or use a condom consistently in order to reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
“Condom use has been at 30 per cent but it has since improved to 60 per cent. We do not want people to associate condoms use with prostitution but it should be seen as an effective tool of protecting our loved ones,” he said.
Sirengo dispelled fears that the country is experiencing a shortage of condoms. He said there is 100 million condoms in store and another 150 million will be shipped in May.
Sirengo said the country uses approximately 150 to 180 million condoms every year. He said use of female condoms in the country is not as common as the use of the male ones.
“Use of female condom still remains a challenge; its uptake is still very poor. We need to seriously look at the gap between knowledge and practice because HIV affects women more than men. Kenyans should come out to know there HIV status and consistently and correctly use a condom- this will help us reduce infections,” he said.
United Nations Population Fund country officer, Bouri Jean-Victor Sanhouidi said although the national prevalence for HIV in the country had reduced to 5.6 per cent, it still remained high.
– the-star.co.ke
