Adolescent girls and young women affected by HIV in Kiambu are set to benefit from a project that aims at providing care, protection and capacity building for self-reliance dubbed ‘Tumikia Mtoto’.
The project targets to reduce HIV risks in adolescent girls and young women aged 10 – 24 years in Kiambu County and selected Wards of Kamukunji Sub-County in Nairobi.
The project is a US Agency for International Development (USAID) five-year funded project working towards promoting access to county-led quality health and social services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), and their families as a continuum of care, protection, and capacity building for self-reliance.
According to the County Director public health and sanitation Teresiah Kariuki the project has reached over 24,000 beneficiaries in Kiambu County with the aim of reducing new HIV infections among adolescents.
“The health department is pleased to announce that our new partner – Tumikia Mtoto has reached over 24,000 beneficiaries in the county,” said Kariuki. She added that the young women have benefited in key intervention sectors like health, nutrition, economic strengthening, education and more.
USAID Tumikia Mtoto programme enjoys complementary support from strong partnerships with clinical partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders in delivering quality age-appropriate HIV and violence prevention health and social services to AGYW, OVC, and their families.
“The programme works with the households to facilitate their access to treatment and care, support education of the children through returning to school and vocational trainings and providing psychosocial support and positive parenting classes,” she said.
According to Grace Njambi, 18, a beneficiary of the programme, the initiative has given them the skills and knowledge to enable them to mitigate health risks.
“It is tough to live in this community, especially if you are HIV-positive, as problems never end, but I know I can now rely on Tumikia Mtoto programme since they are always ready to help,” said Njambi.
According the National Aids Control Council (NACC) every week about 98 adolescent of 10-17 years old get infected with HIV in the country and as of May 2022 Kiambu County alone had reported about 46 new cases of adolescent HIV infection.
By Grace Naishoo
