The surging rate of HIV infection inKenya is prompting the country's banking industry to urge clients to undergo testing for the virus before being granted bank loans.
With more than 100,000 new cases of HIV being reported each year by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics, financial institutions are worried that their clientele may succumb to AIDS before loans are repaid.
"Asking for HIV testing just because you want to get a bank loan is illegal. But as banks, we do encourage tests, but we do not make it mandatory," said James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank,Kenya's largest bank and the 99th largest in the world in terms of market capitalization.
"If you have to get a loan, you are required to get health insurance coverage, and HIV tests come up as a result of health insurance policies," Mwangi said.
The bank has one of the highest loan repayment rates in the country, standing at 98 percent. Other banks average about 90 percent. Records show that those who have undergone HIV tests, whether positive or negative, have re-paid their loans at an average rate of 99 percent across all Kenyan banks, Mwangi said.
Currently, Equity Bank recommends HIV testing for large loans only, $5,000 and above.
In addition to health insurance policies promoting testing, the government has spearheaded a national campaign to encourage people to undergo HIV tests to increase the number of people under drug treatment.
Currently there are about 1.3 million people inKenyaliving with HIV and a further 400,000 under drug treatment. The government plans by next year to partner with banks and other institutions to test as many people as possible for HIV.
"Seventy percent ofKenya's adult population does not know their HIV status, according to reports published by various studies here inKenya. You have to let people know that HIV is not a death penalty even if they test positive," said Nickolas Muraguri, a senior doctor with the Ministry of Health specializing in HIV management.
"They [bank clients] will still get loans from banks even if they test [HIV] positive. It's just a way for the government to try and get as many people treated as possible and they should not feel stigmatized,"Muraguri said.
Regardless of the banking sector's intentions, some sociologists have criticized the move and say that it is ill-timed. They explain that there are many ways to fight HIV apart from asking for tests.
Samson Munywoki, a sociology lecturer at the United States International University Kenya, said the move may discourage people who do not know their HIV status from applying for a loan. He explained that testing HIV positive does not mean a person cannot marry and lead a normal life.
"The testing itself is a form of stigma, but at the same time it is a good idea since more and more people will know their status and those who confirm they are sick can take life-prolonging drugs,"Munywoki said.
Other African countries such asCameroon,NigeriaandGabon, require clients to have a health insurance policy, which encourages HIV testing, before loans are granted.
Research carried out by Kenya's National AIDS Control Council (NACC) and the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP) in June 2013 showed that although HIV prevalence has declined since the beginning of the epidemic more than two decades ago, by the end of 2011 Kenya's HIV prevalence stood at 6.2 percent among individuals aged between 15 and 49 years of age, a total of 1.6 million individuals. According to UNAIDS data, this ranks Kenya11th among African countries in HIV prevalence.
(Reporting fromKenya)
