One dramatic impact of AIDS deaths is the decline in life expectancy. The Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that without AIDS, life expectancy at birth would currently be about 65 years. However, because of the large number of AIDS deaths, it is actually only about 46 years and may decline to 45 years by 2010. Thus almost 20 years of life expectancy have already been lost because of AIDS.

Source: AIDS in Kenya, Kenya Ministry of Health, 2001 In 2002, 34 antenatal care clinic sites participated in the HIV sentinel surveillance system. These sites were distributed all over the country and more than half of them were in rural areas. Sentinel surveillance is repeated annually, although only certain sites have been used consistently since the system was established in the late 1980s.

In 2002, the prevalence was 14.3% in urban areas and 6.3% outside urban areas. In 2002, the highest prevalence rate of 35% was reported in Suba, while in Bamba, Kalulumo and Kilifi the rate was 4%. HIV prevalence among women attending antenatal care clinics in Nairobi declined from 24.6% in 1995 to 14.7% in 1999, and to 14.4% in 2001. In Mombasa, HIV prevalence among women attending antenatal care clinics fluctuated between 12.2% and 16.3%, and was 14.2% in 2002. HIV prevalence in Kisumu has been fluctuating with the highest prevalence measured in 2000 (35.0%).

According to the population-based study in Kisumu in 1997/1998, young women were more likely to be infected than men of the same age. Among women aged 15-19 years, HIV prevalence was 23.0%, compared to 3.5% among men of the same age.

Recent DHS in 2003 found an overall prevalence of 6.7% with an increase in differences among urban (10%) versus rural residents (5.6%). As is the case in many African countries, HIV prevalence in Kenya is higher among women (8.7%), than among men 4.5%.

Source: World Health Organization (WHO)