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The Problem Approximately 1.5 million people have already died in Kenya from AIDS. Currently, out of every eight adults in rural Kenya, one is infected. In urban area, nearly one out of every five adults is infected. In 1984 the President declared AIDS a national disaster. Consequently the Government of Kenya has been playing a lead role in mobilising financial, human and technical resources to combat this epidemic. Today, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya includes about 1.1 million adults between 15 and 49 years, another approximately 100,000 children and 60,000 aged 50 years and over. All these represent 7 percent of Kenyans living with HIV/AIDS. However, the situation in Nyanza and especially Kisumu district, the target population for DAILY AID COMMUNITY PROJECT is different. Kisumu district was leading in HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country with a prevalence of 28 percent (AIDS in Kenya 2001). Seven other districts in the same Province have a HIV/AIDS prevalence of 27 percent each. This is the scenario under which DAY AID CARE is operating at this present time with very high demand for home-based care services, orphans and vulnerable children support services, general prevention and medical care services. The socio-economic consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic are widely felt in Kenya. Increasing mortality rates among adults are threatening economic and social well-being. HIV prevalence in Kisumu district according National AIDS Control Council (NACC 2003) was 30% with some parts of the district with prevalence of 30 – 35%. Women and children are bearing the heavy burden of nursing the sick and managing households with over-stretched or no resources at all in some instances. Observations show that when a husband dies of AIDS in a family, the mother is also often living with HIV/AIDS and dies shortly thereafter, leaving children as orphans.Kenya has experienced an upsurge in the number of orphans due to the high number of deaths from HIV/AIDS – related infections, especially in Nyanza Province and Kisumu district in particular. Currently, the burden of orphans in Kenya is about 1.4 million, being children below the age of 17 years who have either lost their mother, father or both. The Kenyan Government wisely and boldly declared the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Kenya a disaster at the start of the pandemic, and so the Government and International Community are desperately requiring support in rolling out the HIV Programme throughout the country but especially in Nyanza Province and the Kisumu District where the prevalence of HIV is about 27%, which is way above the National Prevalence of 7%. It is against the above background that DAY AID CARE was created. |
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