Stanley Ngara, better known as Kenya’s King of Condoms, hands out condoms across the capital, Nairobi, and tries to raise awareness about HIV infection ahead of World Aids Day on Sunday, EPA news agency reports.
“Condoms have been highly stigmatised because people think you are a sex worker or you have many partners,” he told Bloomberg news agency.
He is trying to break down that stigma.
Along with some volunteers, he talks about HIV and Aids, which are still taboo subjects.
“Kenya needs more kings and queens of condoms,” the 47-year-old told EPA.
The UN says that around 1.6 million Kenyans were living with HIV in 2018 and 25,000 people died from Aids-related illnesses.
While there has been a lot of progress in recent years, the continued stigma around the virus is hampering the work to slow its spread, the head of UNAids Winnie Byanyima told the BBC
“We’re losing the battle to stigma, especially since young people who are HIV-positive won’t come out to seek treatment because they are going to be judged… because HIV is still seen largely as a sin,” she said.
