The number of pregnant women who are HIV positive in Naivasha has dropped from 3.3 to 2.9 percent in the last one year.
Naivasha sub-county medical officer in charge of health Dr Oren Ombiro has attributed the drop to public awareness adding that HIV prevalence in the sub-county stood at 3.8 percent.
“Every pregnant woman has to be tested for Aids and our public awareness has seen the number of infected mothers drop,” he said.
Ombiro said that they were committed to bring the figures further down, adding that they were working with other stakeholders on the issue.
The doctor at the same time is pointing an accusing finger at the mushrooming baby care centers for the rising number of rickets cases in the sub-county.
The medic noted that close to 70 percent of rickets cases in the lakeside town were coming from the illegal centers that are mainly located in informal estates.
Ombiro noted that the cases were rampant in estates which had high number of illegal day cares centers which were incidentally also on the rise. He said that with the rise in rickets cases, there were fears of an increases in in cases of pneumonia among the affected minors.
“The high number of the cases in this sub-county are worrying and there is urgent need to address the numbers before the situation gets out of hand,” he said.
He identified the affected estates as Karagita, Kihoto, DCK and KCC village which incidentally are home to tens of flower farm workers.
Ombiro noted that majority of the cases were coming from the illegal baby care centers which were poorly ventilated and manned by unqualified personnel.
“Many flower farm workers cannot afford the legalized baby care centres and thus leave their babies in the illegal centres, leading to rickets,” he said.