Íæż½ã½ã

In a passionately delivered public lecture, the Executive Director UNAIDS and Undersecretary-UN , ÌýMs Winnie Byanyima called out governments, multinationals and cultures that perpetuate injustices of HIV and AIDS. The Executive Director was speaking at the Íæż½ã½ã on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 in the historical ÌýTaifa Hall.

“For me HIV is more than a disease; it is an injustice. With everything Ìýwe know from 40 yrs of this pandemic, the science, the drugs, the prevention tools, no one should be infected by HIV and no one should die Ìýfrom AIDS related causes. We can end the ugly inequalities driving HIV! We have all the tools to prevent and treat HIV and enable people to live long and healthy lives. If we do the right thing, we can end the injustice of AIDS. If we do the right thing, a world without AIDS by 2030 is possible,"

Ms Byanyima took the audience through the different injustices categorized by lack of equal access to the best technology in health, lack of access to financial resources, lack of access to vaccines and drugs, Sexual and Gender Based violence that is continuously perpetuated by the culture of stigma and silence associated with the vice and Gender Inequality.

She urged Institutions of Higher Learning and governments to acknowledge and reward researchers differently to encourage them to come up with local solutions to the problems facing the society locally, “Many of the diseases we have here could be treated if scientists were rewarded differently. Rewards don’t always have to be profit from people dying. Never again should Africa stand in the back of the queue while our own doctors and nurses are dying.’

She challenged the Kenyan Government to consider local production of everything that is required to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

Ms Byanyima painted this picture, ‘By the time this day ends, 26 young girls will be infected with HIV . This rise in new infections is driven by the silence around gender-based violence. ÌýWhy do we allow the culture of SGBV to continue?’ she questioned.

ÌýShe castigated the issue of stigma around those living with HIV and AIDS , ÌýSex workers and LBTQ community, who Ìýare at a 35% higher risk of infections; This category of people don’t come forward to seek treatment because of the stigma caused by the laws in different countries that have not legalized transactional sex and same sex relationships.

Ms Byanyima concluded by saying that, ‘A society that has inequalities, will be plagued by ills and pandemics.’

On his part, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Stephen Kiama expressed his delight to host the Executive Director. He highlighted some of the steps that the University has made towards the fight against HIV; including a reviewed HIV policy, launch of the Gender desk during the annual celebrations of World AIDS Day, ‘we are privileged as a university to always be ahead of our time. We have made several strides in the fight against new infections of HIV and AIDS through the partnership that we have with UNESCO. The O3 plus project supported the University in developing and reviewing the mental health policy, the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights policy and reviewed the HIV policy. ÌýI received the draft policies from the committee which are going through the University’s processes. In the reviewed HIV policy, the Íæż½ã½ã has adopted UNAID’s Ìý95:95:95 ratio which means that we are committed to getting 95% of our population get tested and aware of their status, 95% of those that get tested and are HIV positive get enrolled on the ARV programme and 95% of those get treatment and are receiving treatment to achieve viral suppression and no longer spreading HIV.’

Prof. Kobia, Emeritus Professor and Melvin Thogo, UNSA President also spoke during the meeting. The session ended with an interactive Ìýsession of Question and answer from different stakeholders.

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