New HIV Cases In Nairobi, Kenya, Caused By Violence, Sexual Assault

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Widespreadsexual assaults during postelection violence in Kenya have resultedin an estimated 950 new HIV cases during the past two weeks in thecapital of Nairobi, Murigi Kinyanjui, CEO of Nairobi-based CrimeScene Investigations, said on Monday, the EastAfrican Standard/AllAfrica.comreports (Mwai, East African Standard/AllAfrica.com, 1/29). Thepolitical and tribal violence broke out after Kenya's president MwaiKibaki was declared the winner over Raila Odinga, the oppositionpresidential candidate, by a narrow margin earlier this month (KaiserDaily HIV/AIDS Report,1/17).

According to Kinyanjui, more than 500 women and girlshave been sexually assaulted in Nairobi since the postelectionviolence broke out, 95% of whom were assaulted by an average of threepeople. Kinyanjui added that using a model based on the 1994 genocidein Rwanda, he was able to estimate the percentage of assailantsliving with HIV/AIDS. "Estimating that the dominant participantinitiated" the sexual assault and that "all werespontaneous, implying that no protection was used, then thesubsequent participants contracted" HIV, Kinyanjui said. Headded that the situation is complex because some women already wereliving with HIV/AIDS at the time they were assaulted. Most sexualassaults have occurred in the low-income areas of the city, where HIVprevalence is high, Kinyanjui said. He added that figures for new HIVcases in the Kenyan cities of Mombassa and Kisumu, as well as inareas of the country's Rift Valley region, will be released when thedata are compiled. More than 1,200 women have been sexually assaultednationwide, according to the Standard/AllAfrica.com (East AfricanStandard/AllAfrica.com, 1/29).

Reuterson Wednesday examined how thousands of"uprooted Kenyans are not getting the HIV medicines they need tosurvive," as well as how increasing sexual assaults in refugeecamps are contributing to the spread of the virus, according topublic health experts. More than 250,000 people have been displacedin the month since the elections, and about 15,000 of them areHIV-positive, according to statistics from the country's Ministryof Health and cited byUNAIDS.Among the 15,000 displaced HIV-positive people, 2,550 were takingantiretroviral drugs before violence "forced them out of theirhomes and cut off their access to the drugs," according toReuters.An unknown number of additional HIV-positive people are stranded intheir homes and have no access to treatment because local clinics areclosed or they are "too afraid to risk the journey,"Reuters reports.

Elisabeth Byrs, a spokesperson for the UnitedNations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,said that Kenya's HIV/AIDS situation could worsen unless the violenceand tensions are curbed soon. She added that the risk of HIVtransmission is very high in refugee camps, where sexual attacks onwomen and children are increasing (MacInnis, Reuters,1/30).

DevelopmentAid

Inrelated news, European Union foreign ministers in a recent statementindicated that development aid to Kenya could be withheld if Kibakiand Odinga do not agree to a power-sharing agreement, the AP/KansasCity Star reports. Accordingto the AP/Star,about 6% of the country's budget comes from foreign aid, and thegovernment has said it will not be influenced by outside groups(Houreld, AP/Kansas City Star,1/28).

Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. top envoy for Africa, saidthat the U.S. is reviewing all of its development aid to Kenya inlight of the violence in Kenya's Rift Valley. Frazer said that theviolence is "clear ethnic cleansing" against the country'sKikuyu people and that neither Kibaki nor Odinga have done enough tostop the violence (Vogt, AP/Globeand Mail, 1/30). The U.S.expects to provide Kenya with more than $540 million in aid thisyear, $481 million of which will be allocated for HIV/AIDS projectsin the country. State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack earlierthis month said, "I think it's pretty safe to say anythingdealing with trying to improve the humanitarian situation in Kenya,including the AIDS funding, is just off the table" in regard toreducing aid (AP/Kansas City Star,1/28).

Frazer said that most U.S. aid to Kenya goes toHIV/AIDS and malaria efforts, as well as to nongovernmentalorganizations. "It will be counterproductive of us to stop theHIV aid support when the population is in crisis," she said,adding that nevertheless, "we are in a process where we arelooking at all of our aid to Kenya" (AP/Globeand Mail, 1/30).

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