The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) has proposed a new plan to help mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS among girls in Turkana County that will see them receive a monthly stipend.
The programme dubbed Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) will see 9000 adolescent girls aged between 15 and 24 years receive Sh2,000 every month to remain HIV negative.
Beneficiaries will also gain access to information and other services related to their reproductive health as well as HIV/AIDS.
"The programme will also provide adolescents with life skills. This group is also deemed to be the most vulnerable and accounts for one in every three infections in the region," explained Abshiro Haleke the KRCS Deputy Secretary General.
Research conducted in other African countries where the programme has been implemented showed that the cash incentive decreased the likelihood of risky sex among women. However, it did not have the same effect on men as it increased the tendency of men to engage in risky sex.
According to the National AIDS Control Council, Kenya has an HIV prevalence rate of 6% and with about 1.6 million people living with the HIV infection.
A United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Gap survey of 2016 further indicates that young women aged between 15 and 24 years account for up to 21% of all new HIV infections.
The statistics show that this prevalence is between 4 and 6 times higher than that of males of the same age in Kenya.
Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok supported the initiative stating that it was a timely effort.
"It could not have come at a better time," he stated.
