Community-Led Advocacy in HIV Outreach to Men in Kenya
Community-led advocacy is crucial for closing the gap in reaching men with HIV services in Kenya, where challenges like low testing rates, late diagnosis, and poor treatment adherence persist. Tailored solutions, including targeted advocacy, outreach strategies, and male engagement guidelines, are vital to improving men's uptake of health services.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
The importance of community-led advocacy and demand creation to reach men Closing the gap on reaching men: Time for action ICASA 2019 satellite Nelson Otwoma National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK), Kenya 5 December 2019 www.iasociety.org
Men & HIV in Kenya Despite progress, men and boys are being left behind in the acceleration to epidemic control 62% ART coverage in men vs. 83% in women Challenges range from poor health seeking behaviour by men to overtly feminized health care systems Source: Kenya 2018 AIDS response progress report www.iasociety.org
Progress towards 90-90-90 targets for men and women KENYA FEMALES CASCADE KENYA MALES CASCADE 1,000,000 600,000 900,000 78.3% 500,000 65.1% 800,000 99.9% 105,033 99.6% 25,236 700,000 84.7% 84.7% 130,109 400,000 84,625 60,249 600,000 94,229 300,000 500,000 897,897 521,640 400,000 703,074 702,061 200,000 300,000 594,318 339,367 337,903 286,046 200,000 100,000 100,000 - - MLHIV Currently in Care Currently on ART Males FLHIV Currently in Care Currently on ART Females Supressed Suppressed Achieved Gap Achieved Gap Source: www.iasociety.org
NEPHAK Nov 2019 consultation Forum to deliberate on community-led advocacy and demand creation for reaching men with HIV and other health services 56 participants, including government (MoH); partners and CSOs working with and for men www.iasociety.org
What are the challenges? Men not seeking HIV testing to desired levels and those testing, often test late Men testing HIV positive do not readily accept treatment Those on ART are not optimally adhering remaining vulnerable to opportunistic infections www.iasociety.org
What are the solutions? Getting men and boys to improve their uptake of HIV and health services will require solutions tailored to the challenges www.iasociety.org
Key takeaways (1) Target advocacy and communications for demand creation and sustained uptake of HIV and health services. Review the Male Engagement Guidelines Including framing and messaging Intensify social mobilization reaching out to men and boys with HIV information Create HIV awareness at non-health sessions (sports, religious settings and cultural events) www.iasociety.org
Key takeaways 2 Better integrate HIV into other health services to minimize stigma and tackle other structural barriers (including time taken to access services) HIV services within the broad range of health services especially the screening for NCDs Recognize and be responsive to the diversity among men Appreciate the diversity among men (age, education, employment, income, rural urban) Address individual needs of men (broadening the scope of DSD beyond ART) www.iasociety.org
Plans for action Build capacity of Male Champions and foster partnership with allies within the health sector and beyond Intensify targeted advocacy and communications to influence policy and practice (review male engagement guidelines) Undertake operations research on the overcoming barriers to HIV and health service uptake by men Mobilize resources to support men and HIV work: PEPFAR COP 20; GFATM 2020 application etc. www.iasociety.org
