Gay people Kenya say they would rather try risky alternativ than suffer huiatn at public hospals." data-reactroot="
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KENYA'S FIRST GAY HEALTH CLIC PROVIS CARE WHOUT THE JUDGMENT
Ishtar is a health re clic Nairobi, Kenya, that is n by and for gay men. * gay hospital in nairobi *
Ishtar also has the distctn of beg the first health re clic Kenya n by gay men that serv a populatn primarily of gay men. ”Njane saw a need for a clic where gay and queer men Nairobi uld e for servic whout the fear of judgment, and 2014 after receivg fundg, Njane was able to turn Ishtar to the type of clic that he wanted to be. Staffed by gay men and members of the muny, Ishtar provis a host of preventive servic, cludg health tn, HIV unselg and ttg, screeng and treatment for sexually transmted fectns, and advice and open fom discsns.
”Njane shared the story of a gay Ugandan man who me to the clic after beg sick for more than a year. Specifilly, the anizatn is tryg to strategize the bt way to follow up wh members to ensure that when a member is sent to a referral that treatment is ed Njane ns the health clic for gay Tong“We have been able to reach 4, 200 members sce we started 2005. “After explag my prediment, the doctor asked if I was gay.
The doctor asked him to go to pro-gay rights civil society groups stead, Ndiretu said. While there is no prehensive data on the exact number of gay people Kenya, the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya (GALCK) timat to be at 1.
THE GAY MEN PROJECT
Strict ernment laws agast homosexualy mean that the anisatn nnot rry out a prehensive cens, acrdg to Kelly Kigera, an admistrator at GALCK. Human rights rearchers and activists have documented a steady rise of hostily agast gay people cludg harassment by ernment forc Kenya, which is still a nservative society. The Kenyan nstutn guarante every cizen the right to healthre accs whout discrimatn but healthre workers ntue to vlate this provisn, pecially as gay men stay silent for fear of harassment or stigma.
Police officers equently e this to harass and extort gay people who are then forced to bribe their way out of ctody. Wh homophobia all around them, gay people like Ndiretu and Onyango Kenya are shunng ernment hospals and rortg to unnventnal methods of treatg sexually transmted fectns. A group of gay men durg a sexual health semar at the Ishtar MSM centre Nairobi, Kenya [Courty: Ishar Centre].