Garissa and Mandera counties with 0% HIV prevalence as Homa Bay and Kisumu tops with 19.6 Percent and 17.5 Percent respectively

Trading at Lake Victoria. PHOTO | BMS

Garissa County has no HIV prevalence with Homa Bay leading the pack at 19.6 per cent, a new report reveals.  A study conducted between June 2018 and February 2019 showed that Nyanza region had more HIV prevalence 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 (KENPHIA) 2018.


Lake Victoria fish business-related considered to be the major cause of HIV infection in the region.


According to the study, the national HIV prevalence stood at 4.9% which means that the Nyanza region is way above the average while the North-Eastern region stood at 0.2%.


Other counties covered include; Nairobi 3.8%, Mombasa 5.6%, Kilifi 4.2%, Nyeri 5.1%, Taita-Taveta 5.7%,  Uasin Gishu 5.5%,Nakuru 3.1%, Mandera 0.1%, Garissa 0.02%,  Kajiado 4.6%, Turkana 6.8% and Kiambu 1.1%.


“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.

Trading at Lake Victoria. PHOTO | BMS

Kenya is the fifth-largest country concerning the numbers 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.