The drug, meant to protect HIV-negative people from contracting the virus, is targeted at high-risk groupsSexually active young women and girls aged 15 to 24 are among the high-risk groups targeted in the May 4 rollout of a new method meant to protect HIV-negative people from contracting the virus. The studies targeted young women and girls, couples where only one partner is infected (sero-discordant) and people who inject drugs, as well as sex workers and men who have sex with men. The young women and teenage girls are being targeted because of their fast-growing contribution to new HIV infection. According to the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey (KAIS) 2012, with an HIV prevalence of 4.6 per cent, young women and girls are three times more likely to contract the virus than males in the same age group. “Most of them are more worried about getting pregnant than contracting HIV,” said Ms Oyoko of the sexually active young women and girls that she counsels.

Source: Daily Nation April 30, 2017 18:45 UTC