Aviator
Elder Lister
December 1 marks World Aids Day, which was created to raise awareness about HIV and the resulting Aids epidemic. This year, the theme is "End inequalities. End Aids."
Prof Elizabeth Bukusi is one of the Kenyans working to end inequalities in treatment and prevention. Over the years, she has carried out groundbreaking research and development of female-initiated methods of HIV prevention.
The subsequent technology has meant a projected 20 per cent decrease in HIV-Aids-related deaths.
She is an expert in sexually transmitted infections, women’s equity in health, reproductive health and HIV-Aids prevention and treatment.
Prof Bukusi is also chief research officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and a research professor at the University of Washington.
She spoke to Star's John Muchangi about HIV prevention in Kenya.
It is 40 years this week since HIV was first described, and we are still looking for a drug or vaccine to prevent the virus. In contrast, we got approval for the first Covid vaccine about 11 months after the genome of SARS-CoV-2 was first published. Why have we taken so long with HIV?
The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, highlighting what can be achieved where there is a will and commensurate investment in resources.
From a historical perspective, response to treatment HIV was relatively swift, but arguably more could have been achieved with a similar commitment of resources as with Covid.
However, the main challenge with the development of a HIV vaccine has not been a lack of trial or funding, but biological. Unlike Covid-19, HIV establishes a chronic infection by integrating itself into the host genome. It also has a very high rate of mutation and recombination during viral replication, making it hard to develop effective HIV vaccines.
Still, HIV has not received similar resources and cooperation among countries to the scale of Covid-19, and this is a valuable lesson on what solidarity can achieve.
What have you found as barriers to the daily Prep uptake in Kenya to prevent HIV?
The main barriers include stigma. There's also low risk perception among potential PrEP users, concern about potential side effects and pill burden, having to take them daily.
A number of individuals taking PrEP have also expressed a dislike for pills and the size of PrEP pills.
Other users decline PrEP due to social circumstances, such as needing to get permission to take PrEP from their partners. We have had people saying that while they are trying to protect themselves from their partner’s risky behaviour, the partners may interpret their taking PrEP as a sign of their own risky behaviour.
They fear being accused of unfaithfulness or promiscuity, therefore opting to decline PrEP.
Some individuals report that the stigma against anti-retroviral therapy in the community is transferred onto PrEP because of similar pill appearance and packaging.
Lets us take the day to remember those we have lost to the pandemic, and resolve to care and not discriminate against those living with AIDS.
www.the-star.co.ke
Prof Elizabeth Bukusi is one of the Kenyans working to end inequalities in treatment and prevention. Over the years, she has carried out groundbreaking research and development of female-initiated methods of HIV prevention.
The subsequent technology has meant a projected 20 per cent decrease in HIV-Aids-related deaths.
She is an expert in sexually transmitted infections, women’s equity in health, reproductive health and HIV-Aids prevention and treatment.
Prof Bukusi is also chief research officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and a research professor at the University of Washington.
She spoke to Star's John Muchangi about HIV prevention in Kenya.
It is 40 years this week since HIV was first described, and we are still looking for a drug or vaccine to prevent the virus. In contrast, we got approval for the first Covid vaccine about 11 months after the genome of SARS-CoV-2 was first published. Why have we taken so long with HIV?
The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, highlighting what can be achieved where there is a will and commensurate investment in resources.
From a historical perspective, response to treatment HIV was relatively swift, but arguably more could have been achieved with a similar commitment of resources as with Covid.
However, the main challenge with the development of a HIV vaccine has not been a lack of trial or funding, but biological. Unlike Covid-19, HIV establishes a chronic infection by integrating itself into the host genome. It also has a very high rate of mutation and recombination during viral replication, making it hard to develop effective HIV vaccines.
Still, HIV has not received similar resources and cooperation among countries to the scale of Covid-19, and this is a valuable lesson on what solidarity can achieve.
What have you found as barriers to the daily Prep uptake in Kenya to prevent HIV?
The main barriers include stigma. There's also low risk perception among potential PrEP users, concern about potential side effects and pill burden, having to take them daily.
A number of individuals taking PrEP have also expressed a dislike for pills and the size of PrEP pills.
Other users decline PrEP due to social circumstances, such as needing to get permission to take PrEP from their partners. We have had people saying that while they are trying to protect themselves from their partner’s risky behaviour, the partners may interpret their taking PrEP as a sign of their own risky behaviour.
They fear being accused of unfaithfulness or promiscuity, therefore opting to decline PrEP.
Some individuals report that the stigma against anti-retroviral therapy in the community is transferred onto PrEP because of similar pill appearance and packaging.
Lets us take the day to remember those we have lost to the pandemic, and resolve to care and not discriminate against those living with AIDS.
Prof Bukusi: The weapons we will use to defeat HIV
Top Kenyan researcher is developing female-initiated prevention methods
