The Aids scourge is posing a serious threat to Kenya’s tourism sector due to a large number of visitors coming into the country without screening, an official said here Wednesday.
”There is evidence that a sizeable number of new infections was through sexual interaction between tourists visiting Kenya and locals,” Tourism Ministry Permanent Secretary Ali Korane said.
”There have been situations where there is a high risk of transmission of the disease, including by those tourists who enter Kenya without screening,” Korane said.
Korane did not immediately indicate whether visitors would be screened as a priority, but said that a technical team was still formulating new government policy on Aids within the tourism sector.
”Considering the nature in which the tourism sector must operate and the factors that are linked to the risk of HIV infections, it is imperative that effective responses must be formulated to minimise situations where the risk of transmission exists,” Korane said.
HIV/Aids is ravaging Kenya, as is the case with many African countries, with nearly 700 new infections daily, according to official statistics.
It is estimated that at least 2,2-million people are already infected by the HIV virus in Kenya, where tourism is the highest foreign exchange earner, raking in $320-million last year.
Earnings from tourism this year is forecast to rise to around $500-million (516-million euros), from an expected arrival of one million tourists. – Sapa-AFP