KEMRI Joins Stakeholders In Commemorating World Aids Day: Let Communities Lead

In a colorful display of solidarity, the Institute joined hands with key stakeholders to observe World AIDS Day. The week-long festivities culminated in a momentous nationwide event held on December 1st, 2023, at the Kinoru Stadium in Meru County, centered around the theme ‘Let Communities Lead.’

The week leading up to the event was a kaleidoscope of activities. These included awareness campaigns including the color festival that brought together young people, national communities of practice convention, HIV and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Human Rights Organizations and People living with HIV among others.

The celebrations also included tree planting and growing exercise in line with the government initiative that targets to grow 15 billion trees by 2032 as our contribution to tackle climate change crisis and deforestation and its impact such as severe drought not just in the country, but also at the wider Horn of Africa.

This year’s global theme, ‘Let Communities Lead,’ calls for unity and embodies the core of collaborative efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, acknowledging that communities serve as both the heartbeat of resilience and the architects of lasting change.

According to WHO, despite the strides communities are achieving, they face hindrances such as funding shortages, policy and regulatory obstacles, capacity constraints, and crackdowns on civil society and the human rights of marginalized communities. These barriers impede the advancement of HIV prevention and treatment services, this theme also calls on governments address and remove these obstacles.

The event was attended by the Cabinet Secretary (CS), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ms. Nakhumicha S. Wafula and Meru County Governor, H.E. Kawira Mwangaza with the KEMRI team being led by Board Director Ms. Faith Mwongerah and Ag. Deputy Director Sexual Reproduction and Adolescent Health Programme, Dr. Elizabeth Echoka, and other KEMRI leadership and members of staff.

In her speech during the event, Ms. Faith Mwongerah reiterated KEMRI’s unwavering commitment to medical research centered on HIV/AIDS prevention. “As an Institute, we have taken the responsibility of understanding, preventing, and treating diseases that affect humanity,” said the Director. She further added that, “today, our focus turns to the critical issue of HIV/AIDS, especially concerning our Adolescents and Young People, the statistics are stark, but so is our determination to change them.”

Over the past three decades, Kenya has witnessed significant advancements in its response to HIV since the reporting of the first case and the subsequent declaration of the epidemic as a National Disaster. KEMRI has been part of this history and continues to play a significant role through research and influencing policy.

Despite the strides that have been achieved, recent reports indicate a surge in the number of new HIV infections, posing a threat to the overall progress made in the ongoing efforts to eradicate HIV/AIDS a reminder that the fight is far from over, a pointer to this year’s theme highlights the role of communities in averting the scourge.

Dr. Echoka on her part animated, “through the Sexual Reproductive, Adolescents and Child Health Research Programme, we commit to continue working with stakeholders and communities towards mitigating the triple threat: ending early pregnancies, stopping gender-based violence and reversing the new infections among the young.”