ELUSIVE SERIAL KILLER
By Nyambega Gisesa
It has taken decades of research. Doctors and traditional medical healers have traveled the thorny path of unmasking the cure to the deadly HIV/Aids virus but the link between cure and death has remained as elusive as ever.
Since the deadly virus was discovered 25 years ago, only two vaccine candidates have made it to the final stage of human trials. Efforts by local doctors and researchers led by Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiative researchers have flopped for several years.
But as the issue of finding a vaccine for the virus seems rather unrealistic as per now, doctors have shifted their focus into developing microbicides. This is a gel applied in the vagina or rectum before sex. However as fate follows any hopes of cure, microbicides have had their share of failures. Most users have complained about irritation in the vaginal area hence increasing the risk of infection.
Supported by such bad lack, latest statistics from health facilities and medical agencies indicate that, the serial killer infection rate is fast rising. And its not only in “unsecure youth” but also among men and women with marriage rings, a group that a few years ago was considered as safe and of minimal risk.
Nothing seems to save millions of lives from the epidemic that is still raging around the world, infecting an estimated 7000 people every day with a whooping 270 thousand children died from AIDS in 2007
According to the Coordinator of Pathfinder International, an international NGO based in Nairobi, Pamela Onduso married people are as risky as the young who are considered to engage in unprotected sex carelessly.
“Statistics indicate that married couples are being infected at an alarming rate mostly due to extra-marital relationships,” she says.
But researchers and doctors in Kenya are not relenting in the war to save the world from the scourge. And to win the war, they have intensified their studies into the most uncommon places; prostitution prone streets in Nairobi and married couples.
Recently, an advertisement has been circulating in the media warning married couples against trusting “spare wheels.”In a recent Inaugural scientific Conference held by Kenyatta National Hospital results from eight years of voluntary counseling and testing at Kenyatta National Hospital: Characteristics of clients, trends and prevalence rates established that married couples are among the current highest people to be infected with the virus.
“Today married couples are getting easily affected at an alarming rate as most of them have partners outside marriage or they are the group who default on condom use most with non steady partners,” Dr. David E. Bukusi expressed his worst fears in one of the presentations.
In a rejoinder to his words, the eight years research work done together with Dr.Sila A and Dr.Jared Odhiambo found out that with regard to marital status, 25% of married clients never use condoms with non steady partners.
In the research as at July 30th, 2008 a total of 56,417 clients had been tested in all clinical testing in the hospital, mobile clinics and in home testing models. The results showed more males 53.7 %( 29,783) than females 46.3 %( 25,667) had sought VCT services with the average age being at approximately 29 percent.
HIV prevalence was highest in the 25-29 age group at 3 %( 1,686), in the skilled category of occupation at 4.4%, in those with some secondary education at 5.9%, in those who never use condoms with steady partners at 6.9%, in the married monogamous at 5.7% and 8.4% among those who have single heterosexual partners. With regard to marital status, 25 %( 1,496) of married clients never used condoms with non steady partners.
Such statistics have helped show that marriage is no longer a safe haven. Speaking during the launch of a film The Silent Partnership in marriage in a hotel in Nairobi, The Centre for the study of Adolescence Director Rosemary Muganda-Onyando attributed such statistics to unfaithfulness among women and men with rings attached around their fingers.
“It’s quite uncommon today to see married people being faithful to each other. Marriage is no longer the safe territory it used to be as most partners engage in extra-marital affairs, “she said to an awestruck audience.
Recent statistics obtained by the daily metro from The Kenya Aids Indicatory Survey 2007 indicate that among married people, 45 per cent have a partner who is infected.
Away from warnings from health researchers to married couples to maintain one wheel at a time or be extra careful on spare wheels, prostitution rings within the city are now the most promising hunting grounds for the medical practitioners.
“I always come here to monitor the progress of my research on HIV/Aids. I have prostitutes working for me to help find out the cure to the virus,” Motari Okibo, a herbalist who claims to have previously cured a strain of the virus says.
But herbalists are not the only healers, risking arrest for possible prostitution from authorities in coming to this area to search for the elusive cure.
“We first established ground in this area from 1987 when our researchers studied women for a period of five years to find out what made them safe from the disease,” the Director of Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiative, Prof. Omu Anala told the writer in a previous interview.
Margret Mwangi (name changed), is one of the prostitutes in one of the brothels along Luthuli Avenue who has been approached for the study.
“I have been in this business for the last thirteen years but I have never been infected with the virus. When I was approached by researchers to assist in their work I agreed but at a certain fee,” She says.
The lady who stays in Githurai area and mother of three school going children, is a bit worried as vaccines tested on her have failed flopped for reasons unclear.
“Its not happening, I think that I am not helping the situation in anyway,” the lady who took the deal expecting major financial expectations incase of an outbreak expresses her worst fears.
Such setbacks are not only attached to Kenya, as scientists around the world feel that more basics need to be learnt first about the virus. They believe that more concentration should be put on research in basics before conducting further human trials.
But major outbreaks seem decades away as the virus that has made its way around the globe, keeps on changing faces. Although several labs have promising leads, none will be ready soon enough with the current setbacks.
Whether the world can manage to find a cure depends on whether the virus takes a more benign form and joins the ranks of common-cold bugs, or grows even deadlier and less predictable.
But come December 1st, the whole world will gather to celebrate the World Aids Day with the same uncertainty of a miserable future as finding the cure to the virus remains more of a mystery than real.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
TRIBUTE TO SLAIN STUDENT LEADER,OULU GPO
TRIBUTE TO SLAIN STUDENT LEADER, OULU GPO
By Nyambega Gisesa E.
The whitewash of the issues and even mystery that often surround the murder of a popular, but controversial, leader always raises questions and doubts, among the masses.
A few days after his assassina tion, the question is who really killed Oulu GPO and why? The easy answer is that his murder is a way to silence a man who with him carried a poisonous dossier implicating the police on extra-judicial killing and the bitter and contentious attacks against the government made by him and his boss Mr.Oscar Kamau King’ara the founder and CEO of Oscar Foundation.
“The government had a hand in his death. The assassinators that shot them at point range were well organised and choosing state house road for that task at 6.00 o’clock in broad daylight with traffic jams all over Nairobi can only be the work of the government, “Emmanuel Dennis, a youth activist, who was waiting for Oulu GPO to deliver the mysterious envelope in his possession says.
Oulu GPO was supposed to deliver a mysterious envelope with hard evidence against the police to the Partnership for Change offices on Thursday afternoon.
“He called and requested that he deliver the documents the next morning,”Emmanuel recalls the last words he had with him.
Three hours later after that call, a bloodless Oulu GPO lay dead next to his boss in a white Mercedes Benz KAJ 179Z after a shooting from men wearing black suits in a convoy of four vehicles-a four-wheel drive car, a Nissan van, a mini-bus and a luxurious black Mercedes Benz.
A few hours after their death, there were calls all-over the world to open independent investigations into their death. The US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger offered “assistance services from the Federal Bureau of Investigation effective immediately for an independent investigation into their death.”
A week before his death he had sent me an email accusing the government of ignoring Kenyans and requesting me to inform other young people to come together and chart a way forward for the country.
Oulu was by far one of our most dynamic young leaders i have met my in life. Oulu GPO had become a major student leader and national figure who shortly before his death had worked out a constructive program for African youth together with other young leaders in Africa after a trip to Gaborone in December.
Kenyan leaders increasingly viewed him as an able, respected, and visionary spokesman against corruption and human rights abuses. Oulu GPO had evolved from the ashes after being arbitrary expelled from the University of Nairobi to become a Program Officer at Youth Agenda up to Dec 2008 and later a Communications and Advocacy Officer at Oscar Foundation even with the fact that he was not yet through with his university education.
What always impressed me the most about Oulu GPO was his constant search for answers, his overwhelming humour and his selflessness in serving humanity.
In his home, he was the only breadwinner after his bed-ridden mother could not afford to take care of his sister and brother who dropped out of school in class eight.
In his place of stay at Eastleigh, he joined the common mwananchi to seek solace after their structures were demolished by scrappy land grabbers.
Being a Luo from Luo Nyanza, he went ahead boldly to defend Mungiki who were being extra-judicially killed.
Oulu GPO brought pride to Kenyan youth and university students. He made us feel that we were entitled to be a good life, to demand justice, in the face of the oppression and backward dictatorship in our institutions.
He also pointed out the ills of the society. His writings across the web and in local daily newspapers were extremely important to any University student yet they came from a man whom the same institution had closed its doors to.
His life was more or the same like that of Martin King Luther and Malcom X.Its only sad that he has gone too early to benefit from the revolution whose pace he set. He was a young man who breathed with a fierce passion for Africa, a true pan-africanist. So in the undying spirit of Oulu GPO, let's keep up the struggle!
The writer is a guest editor for Daily Metro (Campus Lowdown) and a student leader in Kenyatta University.
For comments write to engisesa@yahoo.com
By Nyambega Gisesa E.
The whitewash of the issues and even mystery that often surround the murder of a popular, but controversial, leader always raises questions and doubts, among the masses.
A few days after his assassina tion, the question is who really killed Oulu GPO and why? The easy answer is that his murder is a way to silence a man who with him carried a poisonous dossier implicating the police on extra-judicial killing and the bitter and contentious attacks against the government made by him and his boss Mr.Oscar Kamau King’ara the founder and CEO of Oscar Foundation.
“The government had a hand in his death. The assassinators that shot them at point range were well organised and choosing state house road for that task at 6.00 o’clock in broad daylight with traffic jams all over Nairobi can only be the work of the government, “Emmanuel Dennis, a youth activist, who was waiting for Oulu GPO to deliver the mysterious envelope in his possession says.
Oulu GPO was supposed to deliver a mysterious envelope with hard evidence against the police to the Partnership for Change offices on Thursday afternoon.
“He called and requested that he deliver the documents the next morning,”Emmanuel recalls the last words he had with him.
Three hours later after that call, a bloodless Oulu GPO lay dead next to his boss in a white Mercedes Benz KAJ 179Z after a shooting from men wearing black suits in a convoy of four vehicles-a four-wheel drive car, a Nissan van, a mini-bus and a luxurious black Mercedes Benz.
A few hours after their death, there were calls all-over the world to open independent investigations into their death. The US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger offered “assistance services from the Federal Bureau of Investigation effective immediately for an independent investigation into their death.”
A week before his death he had sent me an email accusing the government of ignoring Kenyans and requesting me to inform other young people to come together and chart a way forward for the country.
Oulu was by far one of our most dynamic young leaders i have met my in life. Oulu GPO had become a major student leader and national figure who shortly before his death had worked out a constructive program for African youth together with other young leaders in Africa after a trip to Gaborone in December.
Kenyan leaders increasingly viewed him as an able, respected, and visionary spokesman against corruption and human rights abuses. Oulu GPO had evolved from the ashes after being arbitrary expelled from the University of Nairobi to become a Program Officer at Youth Agenda up to Dec 2008 and later a Communications and Advocacy Officer at Oscar Foundation even with the fact that he was not yet through with his university education.
What always impressed me the most about Oulu GPO was his constant search for answers, his overwhelming humour and his selflessness in serving humanity.
In his home, he was the only breadwinner after his bed-ridden mother could not afford to take care of his sister and brother who dropped out of school in class eight.
In his place of stay at Eastleigh, he joined the common mwananchi to seek solace after their structures were demolished by scrappy land grabbers.
Being a Luo from Luo Nyanza, he went ahead boldly to defend Mungiki who were being extra-judicially killed.
Oulu GPO brought pride to Kenyan youth and university students. He made us feel that we were entitled to be a good life, to demand justice, in the face of the oppression and backward dictatorship in our institutions.
He also pointed out the ills of the society. His writings across the web and in local daily newspapers were extremely important to any University student yet they came from a man whom the same institution had closed its doors to.
His life was more or the same like that of Martin King Luther and Malcom X.Its only sad that he has gone too early to benefit from the revolution whose pace he set. He was a young man who breathed with a fierce passion for Africa, a true pan-africanist. So in the undying spirit of Oulu GPO, let's keep up the struggle!
The writer is a guest editor for Daily Metro (Campus Lowdown) and a student leader in Kenyatta University.
For comments write to engisesa@yahoo.com
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