Banking on Tests

　　The surging rate of HI V infection in Kenya isprompting the country’s banking industry to urge clientsto undergo testing for the virus before being grantedbank loans.

　　With more than 100,000 new cases of HIV beingreported each year by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics,financial institutions are worried that their clientelemay succumb to AIDS before loans are repaid.

　　“Asking for HIV testing just because you want toget a bank loan is illegal. But as banks, we do encouragetests, but we do not make it mandatory,” saidJames Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank, Kenya’s largestbank and the 99th largest in the world in terms ofmarket capitalization.

　　“If you have to get a loan, you are required to gethealth insurance coverage, and HIV tests come up asa result of health insurance policies,” Mwangi said.

　　The bank has one of the highest loan repaymentrates in the country, standing at 98 percent. Otherbanks average about 90 percent. Records showthat those who have undergone HIV tests, whetherpositive or negative, have re-paid their loans at anaverage rate of 99 percent across all Kenyan banks,Mwangi said.

　　Currently, Equity Bank recommends HIV testingfor large loans only, $5,000 and above.

　　In addition to health insurance policies promotingtesting, the government has spearheaded a nationalcampaign to encourage people to undergo HIV teststo increase the number of people under drug treatment.

　　Currently there are about 1.3 million people inKenya living with HIV and a further 400,000 underdrug treatment. The government plans by next yearto partner with banks and other institutions to test asmany people as possible for HIV.

　　“Seventy percent of Kenya’s adult population doesnot know their HIV status, according to reports publishedby various studies here in Kenya. You haveto let people know that HIV is not a deathpenalty even if they test positive,” saidNickolas Muraguri, a senior doctor withthe Ministry of Health specializing in HIVmanagement.

　　“They [bank clients] will still get loansfrom banks even if they test [HIV] positive. It’sjust a way for the government to try and getas many people treated as possible and theyshould not feel stigmatized,”Muraguri said.Regardless of the banking sector’s intentions,some sociologists have criticized the move and saythat it is ill-timed. They explain that there are manyways to fight HIV apart from asking for tests.

　　Samson Munywoki, a sociology lecturer at theUnited States International University Kenya, said themove may discourage people who do not know theirHIV status from applying for a loan. He explained thattesting HIV positive does not mean a person cannotmarry and lead a normal life.

　　“The testing itself is a form of stigma, but at thesame time it is a good idea since more and more peoplewill know their status and those who confirm theyare sick can take life-prolonging drugs,”Munywokisaid.

　　Other African countries such as Cameroon, Nigeriaand Gabon, require clients to have a health insurancepolicy, which encourages HIV testing, before loans aregranted.

　　Research carried out by Kenya’s National AIDSControl Council (NACC) and the National AIDSand STI Control Program (NASCOP) inJune 2013 showed that although HIVprevalence has declined since the beginningof the epidemic more than two decadesago, by the end of 2011 Kenya’s HIVprevalence stood at 6.2 percent amongindividuals aged between 15 and 49 yearsof age, a total of 1.6 million individuals. Accordingto UNAIDS data, this ranks Kenya11th among African countries in HIVprevalence.