British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran launched a campaign to help raise awareness against AIDS in Kenya.

Ed Sheeran announced his support for our AIDSfree campaign where he also launched a limited edition T-shirt he which he had designed to raise funds for the initiative.

Encouraging Kenyan Men

Reports by UK media indicated that all the proceeds raised from the initiative will go towards our appeal and help the Chukua Selfie programme, a project in Nairobi, Kenya, that encourages young men to test themselves for HIV.

According to reports, the programme aims to protect young people from HIV and also empower them to seek treatment if they are HIV positive to help stop the spread of the virus.

“I’m completely behind the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s ," Ed Sheeran stated.

"To do this, I firmly believe we need to make young men part of our efforts, not only to bring them into consciousness about their own risk and vulnerability to HIV but also to empower them to protect the women around them,” he added.

HIV Statistics

Additional reports indicated that all the proceeds from the T-shirt sales will be matched by the UK Government for projects in Kenya.

The National Aids Control Council had raised concerns over the increasing number of young people and children in Kenya who are HIV positive.

Reports indicate that there are about 300,000 young people aged below 24 years are living with HIV/Aids in Kenya and about 184, 000 are those aged between 10-24 years and another 100,000 are children below 14 years.

About 46 per cent of young women aged between 15-19 have never tested for HIV and 58 per cent of young men within the same age bracket have also never gone for HIV testing, NACC report revealed.