Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has said that she will not give condoms and contraceptives to underage Kenyans.
The CS as a Christian woman vouches for abstinence as a measure against STDs and pregnancies among teenagers.
"I am a Kanisa woman, therefore number one is abstinence, which we teach our adolescents," she said insisting on abstinence.
Those sentiments were not taken lightly by Kenyans and a number of them have voiced their concerns, saying the move will only lead to an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies and HIV infections among the youth.
Here are just some of the comments;
@trezahstar- If she thinks this is like her generation when she was growing up then she is wrong, this is a totally different generation, things have changed, I do community service and we talk to as young as 11 years moms, she is talking about teens? the best way to protect this generation is to advocate for protection as we also advocate for abstinence which clearly is not working, but well.
@shii-nene- We all want them(teenagers) to abstain🗣But we know they won't...so Let them be EMPOWERED with information and choices( condoms) fall in this category...This too much religion is going to throw us in a bad place...We were blessed with brain and health interventions...Let's use that mama kanisa....shall we?
@kibichii94- Very unfortunate comments by a cs
@222aria2aria- And these r the same ppl wondering how so many teen girls get pregnant
@bob-johnson-kaloki- Nothing shittier than justifying policies with religion. Not everyone is religious or has the same beliefs.
Currently, the number of Kenyans aged 15- 19 engaging in sex is approximately 33% which has led to an increase in teenage pregnancies and STIs among adolescents.
Condoms became better known in the 18th century, in many societies condoms were a preserve of the rich and were used for family planning.
In the 19th century, the process of acquiring a Condom remained relatively awkward because though they were designed to be reusable, to get one a man had to walk to the Doctor’s office for fitting before the Condom could be ordered.
Then the 20th century rolled in and two separate disease outbreaks resulted( syphilis and Ghonorea) in the unprecedented levels of Condom use seen to this day.
The result? 40-50% of sexually active persons at that time were using Condoms. Due to the ease of manufacture of latex condoms availability and affordability ceased to be an issue.
Before this, a single Condom would cost a commercial sex worker several months of pay since they were expensive at the time.
And now condoms are the most efficient and available technology to reduce transmission of HIV and other STIs and also pregnancy.
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