Using the power of soccer to fight HIV/AIDS

With the long holidays surrounding us and all the 2017 8th grade primary school students alongside their counterparts, 4^th year high school students having battled to make the academic cut that would usher them into the next level of their schooling year in 2018, another battle of making the cut (not for the usual football match qualification stages) but in the name of Skillz league with an aim of promoting voluntary medical male circumcision and condom use ensued in the communities. Organized by VAP, the league brought together 36 community coaches and over 600 players including girls and boys teams from every corner of Nairobi playing in different football fields. Participants were taken through ‘Make The Cut’ sessions that entails simple football based activities to help and encourage young players undergo VMMC and further encourage healthy behaviors including condom use which were distributed too. The female teams played a major role to promotion and encouragement of VMMC uptake amongst their male partners. Referrals for VMMC services were made to EDARP, health service provider that works closely with VAP.

VAP’s motorcycle was at hand to provide free transport to all interested participants of voluntary medical male circumcision. The participants were transported to EDARP clinic, one of VAP’s partnering health service providers. Coaches of all the participating teams were also involved in the VMMC promotion and mobilization process as they also collected data of all recruited adolescent boys from their respective teams to be referred to EDARP for circumcision services and handled them to VAP staff. “After having gone through ‘Make The Cut’ activity and understanding the importance of voluntary medical male circumcision and the 60% chances of reducing HIV infection, I have personally decided to visit the clinic and book for the services.” Said 18 year old Mbugua from Huruma stars FC.