The 3 counties with the highest number of gay men in Kenya

ruby orimba

December 3, 2018 9:41 AM

The study was conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Canadian government

LGBTI advocates during a past pride march

A study conducted by the National Aids and STI Control Council (Nascop) uncovered a high number of homosexual men in Kenya who had otherwise remained hidden.

According to the survey, the three counties with the high prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS also hosts to over 17,000 undercover gay men.

Nairobi county accounts for 11,000 members of the gay community, Kiambu county was found to have 3,635 and was closely followed by Kisumu with 1,567 cases and Mombasa with 1,469.

Combined, the counties host 17,672 of the estimated 19,175 gay men in the country - commonly referred to as men who have sex with men (MSM).

ece-auto-gen

How MSM Community Transact

Researchers also found that members of the gay community in Kenya preferred to transact through online networks.

In addition, MSM commercial workers meet clients on the common "red-light" streets within the highlighted cities.

In Nairobi, it was found that there are about 137 known work stations along River Road where MSMs operate.

Explaining their findings, Nascop attributed the rising numbers in Kisumu, Mombasa and Kiambu to significant internet use and relative urbanity which promote the underground community.

HIV prevalence among the MSM community stands at 18.2% which is three times the rate in the general population.

"We are now able to reach a big number of a previously hidden group with HIV health care," the report outlined.