Why Nakuru county leads in AIDS-related deaths countrywide
An aeriel view of Nakuru city.
Nakuru County recorded over 1,600 AIDS-related deaths in 2024, making it the highest in the entire country.
According to the data from the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC Nairobi County came in second with 1,267 and Kisumu third with 1,166 deaths.
Experts attribute this to the high cases medical facilities in the county are handling.
Rachael Kyuna, the Nakuru County AIDS and STI coordinator, says that once people living with HIV started getting word of Nakuru County managing AHD (Advanced HIV Disease), most of them started coming to Nakuru for treatment.
“Nakuru County is among the first counties to train health care workers and start offering Advanced HIV Disease services. These services are those that are offered to patients who are critically ill in relation to HIV,” she explains.
This, Kyuna says came about after the National AIDS and STIs Control Program (NASCOP), which is the organ that is mandated with carrying out programs related to HIV, noticed there are those who fall severely ill after they are diagnosed with HIV therefore needing Advanced HIV services.
“The training took place between 2023 and 2024, and after the training, we started having an influx of patients from other neighbouring counties,” she says.
Kyuna adds that there are those who come for this treatment when it is too late, and they end up dying, hence the death is recorded as AIDS-related.
“If you look at that 2024 data, we have those who came and we administered the AHD and died. However, coming into this year, we have admitted many patients, treated them using AHD, and they have been discharged. We are hoping next year’s statistics will reflect this,” she reveals.
Kyuna further notes that the data in general has portrayed a slight improvement where Nakuru is involved.
In last year’s report, Mtaa Wangu reported Nakuru as having an infection rate that stood at 1,185, making it the third highest in the country.
However, in this year’s report, the infection rate stands at 819, making it the eighth in the whole country.
Also, the number of people living with HIV was 65,149 and it was ranked sixth nationally. In this year’s report, the number has drastically reduced to 51,139, making it ninth overall.
She says that she attributes the decrease in the rate of infection to the continuous sensitization to those living with HIV and those without.
“Those who are sick are the ones we are really keen on so as to ensure they do not lose their lives. We are not yet there, but at least we are somewhere. If we could contain those new infections and help those who are really sick, then we will be better off,” she concludes.