•8 out of every 10 new HIV infections occurred among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years
•Kenya loses an estimated 65,000 people annually to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria related illnesses
Image: GETTY IMAGES
Kenya has in a decade recorded an increase in the number of new HIV infections by more than 2,000 from 32,027 in 2020 to 34,540 in 2021.
This is an increase of 7.3 per cent, with 10 counties accounting for 57 per cent of all the new infections.
The 10 include Nairobi, Kisumu, Homabay, Siaya, Migori, Nakuru, Mombasa Kakamega, Kisii and Uasin Gishu.
The latest report by the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council however notes that Laikipia county on the other hand recorded a 25 per cent reduction of new HIV infections in the same period.
According to the World AIDS report 2022, low burden counties such as Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, Marsabit, Turkana, Lamu and Tana River recording an increase in the number of new HIV infections by more than 30% between 2020 and 2021 with Samburu county recording the highest increase.
From the report, 8 out of every 10 new HIV infections occurred among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years with 20,505 of all new HIV infections occurring among women and girls.
“HIV treatment coverage is also uneven across counties. Treatment coverage for adults is lower than 70 per cent in 19 counties with Mandera and west West Pokot counties with the lowest treatment coverage of 48 per cent and 50 per cent for adults living with HIV,” the report reads.
From the report, Nairobi, Murang’a and Kirinyaga had more than 90 per cent of adults living with HIV on ART, with 13 other counties attaining over 70 per cent coverage.
However, only nine counties had reached the 70 per cent mark of the estimated number of children living with HIV on treatment, Including Busia, Embu, Homabay, Isiolo, Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Marsabit and Vihiga.
“Some HIV prevention programmes, such as voluntary male medical circumcision and peer education, were disrupted due to Covid-19 related disruptions,” Geoffrey Mbirua Gitu, Board Chairperson, NSDCC said.
“In the HIV sector, we moved fast to protect the gains made in the response over the years from the Covid-19 related disruptions,” he added.
The report shows that Kenya loses an estimated 65,000 people annually to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria related illnesses with the country having recorded 2 million AIDS-related deaths since the first case was officially recorded in 1984.
By 2011, an estimated one million children in Kenya had lost both parents to AIDS-related deaths while the country lost an estimated 4,098 children and adolescents below 19 to AIDS related deaths.
Chronic illness and death are the most common cause of households slide into poverty across the globe. These deaths were attributed to low diagnosis and treatment coverage for this sub-population,” the report states.
The lower treatment coverage among men and boys is also said to be having an impact on the AIDs related group after 8,270 men aged 30 and above died of AIDS-related deaths as compared to 6,902 women of the same age group.
From the report, the number of AIDS-related deaths increased by 15 per cent from about 19,486 to 22,373 between 2000 and 2021; half of the deaths occurring in 10 counties.
The 10 include Nairobi, Kisumu, Homabay, Siaya, Migori, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kakamega, Kiambu and Kisii counties.
While the AIDS-related deaths increased across 35 counties, in six counties - Samburu, Isiolo, Turkana, Lamu, Wajir, and Vihiga - the estimated number of AIDS-related deaths increased by more than 50 per cent in 2021 as compared to 2022, it says.
In Samburu County, the number of AIDS- related deaths increased nearly 3-fold.