Young women and girls aged 15 to 24 are carrying the heaviest burden of new HIV infections in Kenya, according to the Kenya Aids Response Progress Report 2018.
The report says 14,933 of the 44,800 new HIV infections recorded were in that age bracket, accounting for nearly one-third of the total. It also puts new infections among people aged 15 to 24 at 17,700, showing that young women were infected at a much higher rate than young men.
For every one male aged 15 to 24 who contracted HIV, at least five females in the same age group were infected, the report indicates. That gap is reflected in the wider national figures, which show 864,600 women above 15 years living with HIV compared with 523,600 men.
Despite the high infection burden among women, the report says more men died from Aids-related complications last year. Male deaths stood at 13,800, compared with 10,100 among women.
Deaths among people aged 15 to 24 were also recorded, with the report placing the figure at 2,830. It says about 54 per cent of those deaths occurred in nine counties: Nairobi, Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu, Migori, Kakamega, Nakuru, Busia and Mombasa.
The county breakdown listed Nairobi at 294 deaths, Homa Bay at 246, Siaya at 248, Kisumu at 216, Migori at 152, Kakamega at 126, Nakuru at 108, Busia at 92 and Mombasa at 79.
Overall Aids-related deaths last year were put at 28,200, down 48 per cent from 53,900 in 2010. The report attributes the decline to wider access to antiretroviral treatment after free ART was rolled out in 2003, alongside treatment and care services provided by the National Aids/STI Control Programme.
New infections among 15 to 24-year-olds also fell by 38 per cent from 28,800 in 2010 to 17,700 last year. The report says those infections were concentrated in high-prevalence counties, led by Nairobi, Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu, Migori, Kiambu, Kakamega and Mombasa, which together accounted for 61 per cent of new infections in 2017.
Among the 52,800 people who tested HIV-positive last year, 8,000 were children below 14, 27,200 were females above 15 years and 17,600 were males.
The national prevalence rate stood at 4.9 per cent last year, with women at 5.2 per cent and men at 4.5 per cent. The report says the new estimates confirm a decline in HIV prevalence among both men and women at national and county level.
