Aid groups grapple with stigmatization in HIV prophylaxis roll-out

When Dr. Wanjiru Mukoma began educating at-risk communities about a new preventative HIV treatment in Kenya, interest appeared high. Her company, LVCT Health, reached out to hundreds of members of at-risk communities, including sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSM). The two groups are criminalized in Kenya, but they are also “key populations” in global health parlance — communities where HIV spreads at a higher rate than in the general population, in part because this criminalization can make it difficult to access services.

Mukoma’s team also reached out to young women. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women account for 71 percent of all new infections among young people.

But when LVCT Health began its demonstration study to test the new treatment in three Kenyan communities in November last year, many of the same people who appeared enthusiastic didn’t take part. By the end of six months, 141 MSM, 154 sex workers and 76 young women had enrolled — well below the 2,100 people researchers hoped to sign up before the study ends next year.