Triple threat of HIV, teen pregnancies and violence threatens Kenya's youth

Participants march along Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru City during celebrations to mark World AIDS Day, on December 1, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Doreen Nafula, 19, a teen who recently sat for her KCSE Exams, is among many youths who are the least concerned about HIV infections. When asked if she has ever had an HIV test done, she exclaims loudly and rubbishes the question. “Why would I? And how would I do so if I wanted to? I am even scared of the idea,” she says.

However, she acknowledges that she has received civic education on HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in school several times from her teachers.

Nafula tells me most of her peers are least concerned about taking up HIV tests as the virus is largely attributed to immoral sexual behaviour, leading to stigmatisation. Mary Goretti, Boroswa Ward Representative in Uasin Gishu County and an HIV/AIDS champion for years, on her part says that HIV and AIDS messaging to the public was not well framed.

Telling youths that ARVs are free without telling them the burden of having the infection is a serious problem that should be addressed. It should be clear that contracting the virus comes with implications, such as using the drugs daily for the rest of your life, visiting the doctor every time, and also the burden of opportunistic diseases.”

Mary, who, together with her husband, discovered they were infected with HIV in 1999, also attributes the rising cases of HIV among youths to gender-based violence.

“We have children who are raped, defiled, and molested, exposing them to HIV and other STIs. Most cases go unpunished with the relevant authorities being compromised,” she adds.

She advocates for the transfer of the Gender Desk under the Police Department to hospitals that attend to victims.

Her remarks come amid a 34 per cent rise in new HIV infections among adolescents aged 10–19 in a single year, from 2,083 in 2023 to 2,799 in 2024, contributing to 19,991 new infections nationally despite decades of prevention and treatment progress.

Dr Andrew Mulwa, Head of the National AIDS and STIs Control Program, notes that Kenya has an estimated 1.3 million people living with HIV. Children account for 22 percent of new infections and 13 percent of HIV-related deaths, while adolescents and young people aged 10–24 now make up almost a third of all new cases.

Dr Samuel Kinyanjui, Country Director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Kenya, encourages journalists to change the national conversation on HIV and AIDS. “Members of the fourth estate can change the national conversation with 600 words and a headline that fits on a smartphone screen. We, on the other hand, often need a 60-page policy document, three stakeholder workshops, and a prayer,” he says.

As media attention has receded, he added, the lived realities of millions of Kenyans have been pushed to the margins, confined largely to annual commemorations and technical reports.

It is in this regard that AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Kenya, in partnership with the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC), the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and NASCOP, has launched the Voices of Impact: HIV & STIs Media Awards 2026 — a national initiative designed to revive rigorous, ethical, and people-centred journalism on HIV and STIs.

The Voices of Impact Awards aim to reverse that trend by placing journalists back at the centre of the national HIV conversation.

The Voices of Impact Awards will allow journalists to submit entries that cover critical issues such as HIV prevention, care, stigma reduction, health equity, and treatment retention. The grand prize for the competition will be Sh500,000, with the winner also earning the title of HIV and STIs Media Champion – Kenya (2026).

This initiative aims to not only celebrate the media’s role in the HIV response but also to encourage more impactful and socially relevant reporting on the epidemic.

This year’s campaign focuses on what experts describe as the “triple threat” facing Kenyan youth: rising HIV infections, persistent adolescent pregnancies, and escalating sexual and gender-based violence.

While adolescent pregnancies have declined from 396,840 in 2019 to 240,915 in 2024, the numbers remain critically high. Reports of sexual and gender-based violence among children aged 10–17 climbed to 17,361 cases in 2024, while girls aged 10–14 now account for nearly four per cent of all adolescent pregnancies.

At the same time, mother-to-child transmission of HIV has risen to 9.3 per cent, almost double the global target.

The economic cost is equally stark. Kenya spends an estimated Sh25 billion each year on HIV treatment and Sh46 billion responding to gender-based violence, while adolescent pregnancy alone is estimated to contribute to a 17 per cent loss in GDP over the lifetime of affected girls. “If we ignore one piece of that knot, the rest tightens,” said Douglas Bosire, Acting CEO of NSDCC.