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No single HIV case in Garissa County as Homa Bay leads with 20% prevalence

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A new report has revealed that Garissa County has no single case of HIV prevalence, while Homa Bay leading the pack at 19.6%.

The study that was conducted between June 2018 and February 2019 showed that Nyanza region had more cases of HIV than the rest of the country.

Kisumu stands at 17.5% while Siaya and Migori are at 15.3% and 13.0% respectively, according to the Kenya Population-based HIV Impact Assessment 2018.

The study found that the national HIV prevalence was found to be 4.9% which means that Nyanza region is way above the average.

North Eastern region reported lowest prevalence with the region showing less than 0.2%.

Nairobi is at 3.8%, Mombasa 5.6%, Nyeri 5.1%, Uasin Gishu 5.5%, Kajiado 4.6%, Turkana 6.8% and Kiambu 1.1%

The report further notes that 1.3million (4.9%) adults are living with HIV while 139,000 (0.7%) children are living with the virus.

“HIV prevalence was twice as high among women at 6.6% (95% CI: 6.0%-7.1%), compared to men at 3.1% (95% CI: 2.7%-3.5%),” the study found.

Kenya has the fifth-largest number of persons living with HIV in the world, and HIV continues to be a leading cause of adult morbidity and mortality.

34,610 individuals participated in survey across the country: 27,897 were aged between 15-64 years and 6,713 were children aged between 0-14 years.

Author

Milton Nyakundi

Milton Nyakundi is a veteran multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience across broadcast, digital, and print media, who relocated to the United States in 2022 and is now the Senior International Correspondent for Kurunzi News based in Washington, DC, USA. He has previously worked with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), among other high-profile roles with Kenya's first privately-owned media outlet - Kenya Television Network. His experience also include prominent roles as Media Consultant for Football Kenya Federation (FKF), and StarTimes Kenya. His career spans high‑stakes political reporting covering legislative and constitutional issues, elections, governance, and accountability across Kenya, Africa, and global arenas. He also boasts extensive sports journalism experience, covering local and international sports events, including leagues, tournaments and sports governance. He is well-known for his investigative depth, editorial leadership, and evidence-driven journalism that guides his consistent delivery of public‑interest storytelling across platforms.

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