Picture yourself….. Being 24 years old

On the streets

Living in Poverty

Living with no support from family & friends

Stigmatized by teachers and Healthcare Workers

Discriminated against because you have a disease

HIV Positive Youth in Kisumu, Kenya

Christine Beach

Facts about HIV/AIDS Leading cause of death among youth 15-

24 years in developing world

Youth represents 40% of new HIV infections worldwide

60% of which are in sub Saharan Africa

(Wolf, Halpern-Felsher, Bukusi, Agot, Cohen & Auerswald, 2014).

Kenya, Africa

Kisumu

Kisumu Tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1-pDkljaZ0

HIV Care ‘free of charge’

Kenya’s poorest area

63% population living on less than $1 a day

Majority of youth lack money for basic needs

Lack of transportation to clinics

Money and food (known barriers to obtaining care)

(Wolf et al., 2014).

HIV Prevalence rate among teenagers in Kisumu, by age

15 16 17 18 190

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 03.6 2.2

8.68.3

17.9

29.4

22

33.3

MaleFemale

Age in Years

HIV

Pre

vale

nce

in %

Kisumu 12, 645 new cases in 2013 (AVERT, 2011)

HIV/AIDS Statistics in Kenya

People living with HIV/AIDS

Adults (15-49) prevalence %

Women with HIV/AIDS

Children with HIV/AIDS

AIDS deaths

Orphans due to AIDS

1,600,000 6.2 800,000 220,000 62,000 1,100,000

In 2011 there were an estimated 23.5 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. This has increased since 2009, when an estimated 22.5 million people were living with HIV, including 2.3 million children.

The increase in people living with HIV could be partly due to a decrease in AIDS-related deaths in the region. There were 1.2 million deaths due to AIDS in 2011 compared to 1.8 million in 2005.  Almost 70% of people living with HIV worldwide live in sub-Saharan Africa.

USA new cases 42,181 infections in 2011

(AVERT, 2011)

Stigmatization Fear of disclosure

HIV-related stigma

Poverty

Mental Health

Insufficient support networks(Wolf et al., 2014)

Grounded Theory Model

STIGMA LTFU

School

Home

Disclosure Clinic

Dependent Relationships

(Wolf et al., 2014)

(Lost-to-follow-up)

Family stigma “You will become lonely because (your

family) will reject you”

“Some of the fathers… will mishandle you….This will drive a patient into suicide”

“They are aware of my status but instead of telling you that you should go to the clinic, they forget it”

Teacher Stigma “Teacher will look down upon the child

instead of helping them”

“They can call such students prostitutes”

“Teacher used to send them away from school claiming that they might infect the others”

Peer Stigma “In schools, many children

don’t understand HIV well. People will fear you. Once everyone fears you, you will have no option but to die. You will think of eliminating yourself”

Clinic Stigma Healthcare workers are not sensitive to

confidentiality “Those who are her to pick the drugs should

sit on that side” “I will have to come to this clinic yet I might

not have bus fare” “As soon as I got to the clinic, I saw many of

our school mates…I thought that they knew I was going to take drugs there…Since then I haven’t gone to the clinic”

Discussion Besides education and awareness,

What can individuals do to stop this pandemic?

Should we care what is happening in Kenya? Do you think it affects Canadians? How?

This leaves the country with a lot of unskilled workers causing fewer individuals to work on farms and produce goods. Who will be the politicians or parents or teachers be if this population is dying?

Questions

ReferencesAVERT (2011). Retrieved September 27, 2015 from,

http://www.avert.org/africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm#sthash.wIyUhNjI.dpuf

Kisumu Statistics (1999). Retrieved September 27, 2015 from, http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Kisumu+Statistics+on+HIV%2fAIDS&view=detailv2&&id=36E245BE9A992F3AED1D08C3B75D13DF3E72FBD2&selectedIndex=0&ccid=81QI%2fgYB&simid=608008374446917133&thid=JN.XEa5OmdiQR50bgNKPb7FEQ&ajaxhist=0

Wolf, H. T., Halpern-Felsher, B. L., Bukusi, E. A., Agot, K. E., Cohen, C. R., & Auerswald, C. L. (2014). " It is all about the fear of being discriminated [against]... the person suffering from HIV will not be accepted": a qualitative study exploring the reasons for loss to follow-up among HIV-positive youth in Kisumu, Kenya. BMC public health, 14(1), 1-11.