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Cindy Amaiza

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Cindy Amaiza
Born
Cindy Amaiza
NationalityKenyan
OccupationHIV/AIDS activist
Known forFounder of Y+ Kenya
Notable work
  • She is associated with Partnership to Inspire, Transform, and Connect the HIV response (PITCH) partner organization.
  • Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Program (AYARHEP).

Cindy Amaiza is a Kenyan HIV/AIDS activist. She is a student living in Nairobi. She is associated with[1] Partnership to Inspire, Transform, and Connect the HIV response (PITCH)[2] partner organization[1] Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Program (AYARHEP).[3] She is also the founder of Y+ Kenya, which united young people living with HIV such as herself from six separate Kenyan organizations into a national AYPLHIV network.[1]

Activism

I envision a unified voice of young people living with HIV to be better able to address the challenges and issues young people, who are disproportionally affected by HIV and AIDS, are facing.

— Cindy Amaiza[1]

Soon after founding Y+ Kenya in late 2017, Amaiza, as national coordinator, found that many of her peers were taking expired antiretroviral medications. Y+ Kenya brought the issue to the Kenyan Ministry of Health, which at first denied the existence of an issue. After the network presented testimony from about 40 young people, the Ministry stated that antiretrovirals had a shelf life three months past the expiration date, but under further pressure from Amaiza's group, the Ministry contacted the involved health centers and arranged for fresh replacement medication to be given to those affected.[4]

The group also campaigned for more HIV-positive people to be consulted in decisions by the Ministry of Health and National AIDS Control Council.[4]

As of 2019, Y+ Kenya had six member organizations, all led by and serving people age 10–30. Each focuses on different issues, such as transactional sex, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental health, young female sex workers, and female drug users.[4]

Amaiza also worked to improve Kenya's planned universal health coverage (UHC). Young people with HIV campaigned against its launch, as the National Health Insurance Fund would have required payments for 6 to 12 months before access to healthcare, and had little coverage. Surveying her community, Amaiza's group collected opinions on improving the UHC plan, and advocated for some of those ideas to be included in the Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (KASF).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Young people living with HIV in Kenya start their own network". aidsfonds.org. 18 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  2. ^ "PITCH". Frontline AIDS. Archived from the original on 2021-04-04. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  3. ^ "About Us". www.ayarhep.or.ke. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  4. ^ a b c "Young people living with HIV in Kenya and their battle against expired antiretrovirals". aidsfonds.org. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  5. ^ "READY for universal health coverage". Frontline AIDS. 2020-05-29. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
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