Officials differ on number of students with STIs in Kirinyaga Central

Kirinyaga County Health executive George Karoki and senior education officer Kennedy Machora have disagreed on the number of students suffering from sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).

Mr Machora recently claimed that 12,000 of the 16,000 secondary school students in Kirinyaga Central sub-county tested positive for STIs.

The sub-county director of education lamented the statistics and told parents to take care of their children.

He said investigations had revealed that the students engaged in early sex.

"When we carried out investigations, we established that the students [engage in] sex in buses when going home after closing schools. Such sexual behaviours could ruin the lives of children and should be discouraged," he said.

He urged parents to talk to their children after attending Sunday services together.
"If such a big number of students are affected, what does that mean?" he asked.

But Dr Karoki lashed out at Mr Machora, accusing him of issuing misleading reports.

"My attention has been drawn to misleading reports regarding the number of school-going children who have been treated for [STIs] in Kirinyaga Central sub-county,” he said. 

He added that Mr Machora’s claims “cannot be substantiated".

He continued: "[The] department of Health recorded and treated 1,345 cases of STIs in the sub-county and 4,409 cases in the entire Kirinyaga County this year. However, these cases are for the general population and not for a specific cohort of patients." 

He asked officials to ‘learn’ to provide accurate figures, saying Kirinyaga County Commissioner Moses Ivuto had also questioned the statistics provided by Mr Machora.

Sexual behaviour

"Whereas community education to deter our youths from risky sexual behaviour must be embraced by all sectors, it is equally important for officers in other departments to consult the Health department for accurate data,” Dr Karoki said. 

“In the case in point, the data announced is extremely exaggerated and its source cannot be ascertained."

Dr Karoki said it was reckless and irresponsible for a government official to make such blanket unsubstantiated statements and challenged Mr Machora to present the source of his information.

He added that his department had not carried out mass STI screening in secondary schools.  

He urged parents and teachers not to panic, saying students are healthy.

He said his department has a vibrant public health education and disease prevention programme. He added that the county government is committed to offering the highest standards of preventive and curative healthcare services to everyone, including students.