Dear Madam First Lady,
Here is the justification you provide for the
half-marathon to be held on Sunday the 9th of March, 2014:
“Over 5,500 women in Kenya die annually due
to pregnancy and birth related complications. In 2012 alone, over 100,000
children below age five died before their first birthday. In the same year,
there were over 13,000 new HIV infections among children, of whom 62% did not
access life-saving medication.”
As you very passionately note – “It doesn’t have to be this way”
Why is this marathon of interest to me – a gay
man in Kenya?
Now of course, every Kenyan should be
concerned when over 5000 women die in easily avoidable pregnancy and birth
related complications. Yet I could also say, this is a problem for heterosexual
men – the same way heterosexual men talk, about the criminalization of gay men in
Kenya.
But I will join you in the Marathon so that
we can jointly t work to reduce the number of deaths of children under 5,
pregnancy and birth related deaths and indeed neonatal HIV infections. We know
that birth related HIV infections can actually be eliminated. Kenya has over
13,000 new infections in this category, over 8000 of whom, never get to access
life-saving ARVs. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.
Additionally I know, what impacts the
health of one individual in the society, directly or indirectly affects me. This
is not just about the burden of disease in a country and the implied cost
implications, but also social costs. When a mother of 5 dies during child
birth, and her orphaned children cannot access education, the poverty implications,
which may include engagement in crime affects all of us.
But I have a self-serving reason for
wanting to run in this Marathon (even with a training related injury). I realize this campaign geared towards
eliminating new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive
But Madam First Lady, I want to steal you
into a secret of a low lying fruit that can help attain your strategic
objectives. We know that over 40% of MSM are in heterosexual relationships, and
we know that HIV infections among the MSM are elevated because of a number of
factors; not least is the need to hide, because of criminalization, which in
turn denies them access to targeted health services. This means that these men are less likely to
know their HIV status or access HIV services if they are HIV+. This has
implication for their female partners and their children.
Madam First Lady, I do not have the
evidence but it would not surprise me, if the stigma and discrimination encountered
by the MSM trickles down to their female partners and their children. That is
why I am presenting for you the request below:
Before presenting to you the request
though, Madam First Lady, I wish to bring to your attention the findings of
this Study findings . This has demonstrated that partners with
undetectable viral load do not transmit
HIV to their sexual partners. This requires them to be on treatment – with capacity
for adherence.
You may know from this statement from the
Cabinet Secretary for Health that: “increased fear, stigma, discrimination and potential acts of violence against them limit their access to health services while continuing with risky behaviours.”
This Madam First Lady means that in Kenya
today, the female partners of the MSM and the children cannot enjoy the
benefits of treatment as prevention. This is why then I am appealing for your
support (in the same way am supporting your Marathon), in realizing the following
requests:
Requests to the Beyond Zero campaign:
1.
Form a Reconciliation Committee
that brings together the main stakeholders who have a stake on MSM health
issues. These include MSM experts, The Religious/Moral Representatives, HIV and
Legal experts. The task of this group should be to develop a road map for reconciling
the various moral, legal and Human rights issues that prevent Key Populations
from accessing HIV/AIDS including treatment to scale.
This would be in line with
your Campaign’s strategic objectives
(iii) of Mobilizing men as
clients, partners and agents of change, (iv) Involving communities to address
barriers to accessing HIV, maternal and child health services and (v) of Providing leadership, accountability and
recognition to accelerate the attainment of HIV, maternal and child health
targets.
2.
Request the President to suspend
criminalization, of MSM for the duration of time that the Reconciliation
Committee will be developing the reconciliation Road Map. During this time, we
should also encourage research organizations, to study whether there is
significant uptake of HIV prevention and treatment services and/or reduction in
structural determinants of health that keep the MSM from services. This is in line
with your Campaign’s Strategic Objective – (i) Accelerating HIV programmes
Madam First Lady, every Kilometers I will
run on Sunday, with be a prayer request for you to do these two things, because
I know, this approach is just like managing a financial portfolio reduces
financial risk and increases investment returns in the long run. It is
important to engage in what you are already doing for mothers and children, but
it is also important to seal the holes that undermine the total output of your
work.
The marathon will be a painful 21 kilometre
run, but will be well worth the effort if you can kindly consider my request.
Thank You.
