HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Kenya has a severe, generalized HIV epidemic, but in recent years, the country has experienced a notable decline in HIV prevalence, attributed in part to significant behavioral change and increased access to ARV (antiretroviral drugs). Adult HIV prevalence is estimated to have fallen from 10 percent in the late 1990s to about 4.8 percent in 2017.^[1] Women face considerably higher risk of HIV infection than men but have longer life expectancies than men when on ART.^[2] The 7th edition of AIDS in Kenya reports an HIV prevalence rate of eight percent in adult women and four percent in adult men. Populations in Kenya that are especially at risk include injecting drug users and people in prostitution, whose prevalence rates are estimated at 53 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are also at risk at a prevalence of 18.2%.^[3] Other groups also include discordant couples (where one partner is infected and the other is not) however successful ARV-treatment will prevent transmission. Other groups at risk are prison communities, uniformed forces, and truck drivers.^[4]