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Bungoma County has recorded a significant drop in HIV/AIDS mother-to-child transmissions from 14 per cent to 8 per cent over the past year.
The County HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections coordinator, Kennedy Bomji, attributed the achievement to close collaboration between the county government, healthcare workers and development partners.
Speaking during a ceremony to recognise 100 children who attained two years without contracting HIV despite being born to mothers living with the virus, Bomji said good partnership has improved prevention services for expectant mothers.
According to him, the partnership has pushed the county closer to its goal of eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmissions, whose theme is to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B.
“As a county, we have not been doing very well, we were at 15.5 per cent but with interventions that we have put in place, realising where we have been and the concerns even nationally we realised that we were not doing very well and the interventions through the efforts of our partners, the community, the mothers the rates we are at 8.6 per cent,” he noted.
The triple threat of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and female genital mutilation were cited as major contributors to HIV/AIDS.
According to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council's Kenya HIV Estimates Report 2026, an estimated 1,481,853 people are living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2025, and HIV prevalence stands at 3.22 per cent among adults aged 15-49 years.
New infections fell to 13,936 and AIDS related deaths to 19,434, continuing a downward trend in the epidemic. The epidemic remains concentrated; 10 counties, led by Nairobi, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Siaya, and Migori account for roughly 60 per cent of the national burden.
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According to a medic, Betty Sitati, they are educating the public and encouraging those affected to seek professional help as one way of addressing the challenge.
“Having HIV doesn’t mean that your life has ended. Look for us so that you can be guided and encouraged. The important thing when we get a client, we make sure they have done disclosure for easier work since we will have men involved,” Sitati noted.
She added, “We are celebrating these children; we have got 100 mothers across the country, and we normally follow through with these children for a period of 24 months.
“We also ensure the mothers come to the facility for testing to ascertain their HIV status; those who test positive are placed on a follow-up programme where children are followed through the process, and we ensure that there are some interventions that are happening.”
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