NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 30 – Nairobi has emerged as the leading hotspot for new HIV infections in Kenya, recording 3,045 cases in 2024, according to the newly released Kenya AIDS Response Progress Report 2025.
The capital city’s figures account for a significant portion of the national total, which stood at 19,991 new infections for the year.
The report reveals that the HIV epidemic remains deeply entrenched in specific geographic areas.
Nairobi is followed by several counties in the Lake Region and Western Kenya: Migori (1,572), Kisumu (1,341), Homa Bay (1,180), Busia (868), and Siaya (835).
Rounding out the top ten are Kakamega (819), Nakuru (817), Mombasa (679), and Bungoma (660).
Nairobi, Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Busia, Siaya, Kakamega, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Bungoma accounted for 60 percent of all new infections in the country.
Nationally, the total number of people living with HIV is estimated at 1,326,336, with a national prevalence rate of 3.0 percent.
However, the burden is unevenly distributed; seven counties alone, including Nairobi and Kisumu, are home to 50 percent of all people living with the virus.
Beyond the geographical hotspots, the report sounds an alarm over the vulnerability of Kenya’s youth.
Adolescents and young people aged 10–24 years accounted for 32 percent of all new HIV infections, with adolescent girls and young women comprising eight out of every ten new cases in this age group.
This demographic is battling what the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) terms a “Triple Threat”: HIV infections, adolescent pregnancies, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
In 2024 alone, 17,361 cases of SGBV were reported among adolescents aged 10–17, representing 36 percent of all national cases.
Concurrently, adolescent pregnancies remained alarmingly high, accounting for 16 percent of all pregnancies nationally, including nearly 10,000 cases among girls aged 10–14.
While the country has made strides in treatment, the report notes a sobering rise in AIDS-related deaths, which increased by 3 percent to 21,007 in 2024.
The vast majority of these deaths18,321 (87 percent of the total) occurred among adults aged 15 and above.
A particularly stark finding is that 47 percent of adult deaths were among men, a disproportional share attributed to poor treatment outcomes and late identification of the disease in the male population.
Children also faced a heavy burden, with 2,685 deaths among those aged 0–14
Geographically, approximately half of all AIDS-related deaths were concentrated in just ten counties, with Nakuru (1,283) reporting the highest number, followed by Kisumu (1,116), Homa Bay (913), Uasin Gishu (704), and Nairobi (690).
Another critical concern highlighted is the rise in mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rates. The national rate increased to 9.3 percent in 2024, up from 7.3 percent the previous year, missing the global target of less than 5 percent.
Disparities were stark, with arid counties like Wajir recording transmission rates as high as 33.4 percent, while Kisumu achieved a low of 6.0 percent.
Despite these challenges, the Ministry of Health emphasized the resilience of the country’s health systems.
“Kenya’s HIV response continues to stand as a model of resilience overall new infections have declined by 51.7 percent since 2019.,” stated Principal Secretary for Medical Services Ouma Oluga,
The report indicated that in 2024, only 35.9 million condoms were distributed against a national requirement of over 489 million, meeting just 7 percent of the need.
