Our Clinical Officer 'son' is a Luyha (W Province tribe) and is doing a year's internship in Vihiga south of Kakamega. The Gen Hosp serves many Luos (tribe from Nyanza Province on Lake Victoria). A few years ago the HIV infection rate in Nyanza was around 25% of adults. Pascal says many Luos he sees have 'given up' the fight. He blames a lot of it on wife inheritance. If a man dies, his brother is supposed to have intercourse with the widow on the day of the funeral. If the death was from AIDS, and the wife is infected, it is passed on to another branch of the family. This is not the custom amongst the Luyha and anyway Pascal says the Luyha girls are 'too smart.'
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