Parents have been asked to discuss sex issues openly with their children to cushion them from engaging in immoral practices that may expose them to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The Director of National Aids Control Council (NACC), Dr Nduku Kilonzo said the society has lost the communication war to social media platforms, prompting the youth to seek information on the internet, some of which is inaccurate and false.
Dr Kilonzo urged church leaders and parents to control what the young people access on the internet by providing them with accurate and correct information on matters related to sex. She was speaking on Tuesday at the National Dialogue meeting between religious leaders and people living with HIV and AIDS in Thika town today. Dr Kilonzo noted that parents and religious leaders have a responsibility of inculcating moral values and they therefore cannot run away from giving sex information to the youth and the faithful to influence behaviour change.
“If we do not give them the information, they will get it from elsewhere. Therefore we should ask ourselves what are the most browsed sites and which age groups seek sex information,” she said.
The Director said most families have refused to talk about sexual violence, incest, rape, drugs and alcohol issues in their communities, adding that their silence has facilitated the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“People who have been affected by sex violence are the ones stigmatised and discriminated against in their communities. We must educate the society on how to relate with them instead of antagonising them,” she added.
Dr Kilonzo said NACC was in the process of setting up a desk office for faith organisations at their offices where religious leaders will work together with the council in a theological approach to fight the HIV/AIDs pandemic. The initiative would discourage stigmatisation and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS.
“NACC will work with religious organisations and have a calendar where HIV issues will be included in the sermons,” said Dr. Kilonzo.
Reverend Alphonse Kanga from the National Council of Churches of Kenya said it was necessary for the clergy to demand medical certificates while officiating at marriages as one way of reducing the infection rate. He said churches as care givers should include courses of HIV on their theological training as well as formulate data collection of the affected people to enable them deal with issues of ignorance, tradition and beliefs.
“Time has come for us to move away from prevention to care giving and including HIV courses during theological training will help to mitigate the effects of HIV as well as make the society stigma-free,” said Kanga.