There are various common myths about the contraction and prevention of HIV.
As much as people will want to believe that they know what they need to when it comes to HIV, there is still a good number of people that may be unaware on how they can contract HIV and how they can prevent themselves from contraction.
Pulse Live Kenya went out to the streets to find out how Kenyans are protecting themselves against HIV and some of the answers were pretty interesting.
1.Peeing after having sex will ‘wash’ away the infection
One man felt that if he unknowingly had sex with an infected partner then he could simply just urinate and that would ‘wash’ away the virus.
2.When in a marriage, there is no need for using protection because we trust each other
Another interesting response from one man in the survey was that when in a marriage then trust is all he needs to know that he cannot contract the virus.
“Being a family man, I don’t need protection,” he said.
3.Depends on how she looks
Another revealed that sometimes they use protection when they engage in sex while other times they do not.
When asked how he would know whether the person is infected this is what he had to say:
“I don’t know, it depends on how she looks.”
Others simply did not use protection at all.
Check out the video below:
ALSO READ: 6 ways you are putting yourself at risk of contracting HIV
While these responses may not apply to every single person, it does raise a concern on the attitude and knowledge that people have about HIV.
Prevention is better than cure and one of the ways that Kenyans can prevent themselves against the contraction of HIV is by using the Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) which is a pill that is taken daily by people who are HIV negative but at a high risk of contracting HIV.
Do you think that you’re at risk of contracting HIV? Find out more about PrEP, here, to stay protected.