Kisii County residents have been urged to abstain or use condoms to reduce the alarming increasing rate HIV infections in the county.
According to Iyabe Sub County health officer Kharen Boyani, the use of condoms will highly prevent the rise of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV in the county.
She said, "Please let's prevent STIs because when you get an STI, you're susceptible to HIV infection. If you cannot abstain, then use a condom.”
Boyani said that if STIs are increasing, then it meant that people were engaging in risqué behaviour which was exposing them to the deadly virus.
"We are failing to understand that a situation where HIV infections are going down and STIs are going up, this means that eventually HIV infections will go up," added the Boyani.
She said the county's HIV prevalence rate stands at 15 per cent. She added that the target for zero infections is still achievable through Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) and the consistent use of male and female condoms.