Nairobi — More than one million Kenyans are expected to get tested for HIV during a national campaign launched on Monday.

The drive is expected to target more than 77 per cent of adults in all types of relationships who are unaware of their partners' HIV status.

Public Health and Sanitation minister Beth Mugo urged Kenyans to visit voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centres to be set up in most towns, residential areas and social places.

"We can not claim to protect our loved ones yet we do not want to get tested," Mrs Mugo said, adding that couple testing was important to reduce the rate of new infections in steady relationships.

Testing at night, and at workplaces, door-to-door approach, and mobile centres are some of the strategies in this year's campaign to increase the number of people to be tested. The campaign, which will run for three weeks at health centres countrywide, will end on December 12.

In a similar campaign last year, 700,000 people were tested.

The National Aids and STI Control Programme head Nicholas Muraguri cited the youth as the most vulnerable groups and called for vigorous campaigns to encourage them to get tested.

Dr Muraguri pointed out that denial that the youth are at risk was one of the barriers in controlling new infections among those aged between 20 and 24 years.

"Women are four times more at risk of contracting HIV compared to their male counterparts," Dr Muraguri told Daily Nation in an interview.

The HIV prevalence among women stood at 11 per cent compared to 3.9 per cent among men in the same age group.

However, men were the most affected group after the age of 55, with an 8.3 per cent prevalence.

Mrs Mugo urged the youth to get tested to plan wisely for their families.

She further challenged the youth to involve themselves in productive ventures to avoid boredom that later exposed them to risky sexual behaviour.

"We expect to meet a target of 10 million people tested by June next year," the minister said.

According to the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey, there was an increase in HIV awareness among those aged between 15 and 49 years although two thirds had not been tested.

The minister called on those who had tested positive to maintain healthy lifestyles through diet, seeking medication and adopting behaviour change to avoid infecting others and acquiring new strains of the virus.

"Make an informed choice and visit a VCT centre to plan your life wisely," she said.

According to government statistics, 45 per cent of people who got tested are in discordant relationships, thus making difficult to monitor the spread pattern of the disease if one of the partners refused to get tested.