Tuesday, November 22, 2011

CARD donates a Condom dispenser to Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre


Promoting safer sexual behaviours has been the most important area of prevention for organizations and departments dealing with Health, the National AIDS Commission and partners.   However, changing sexual behaviour is not easy and Ndhiwa Maarifa Centre being a centre that gets highly visited by a number of community members from diverse environs, it got pin pointed as one of the best located 'safer sex gadgets' (condoms) dissemination point.  
There is evidence that many Kenyan of reproductive age engage in unsafe sexual behaviours including having multiple sexual partners, cross generational sex, polygamy and cultural practices involving sexual intercourse.  
Such practices put men and women of all ages at risk of contracting STIs including HIV/AIDS, as well as unwanted pregnancy . Despite high knowledge amongst Kenyans that unprotected sex can transmit HIV, most men and women do not perceive themselves at risk of HIV nor do many know their HIV status.   
All these factors have contributed to high HIV prevalence rates, increased rates of STIs and high maternal mortality rates, and thus prompting many health programs to focus on both behaviour change and condom distribution, dispensing and promotion as the key strategy to manage these health problems.  

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