Kenya has achieved significant progress in the fight against HIV, notably by doubling the number of individuals on lifelong antiretroviral treatment and successfully implementing a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) program with a 64 percent uptake.
In a stakeholders meeting held in Nairobi on Tuesday, Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni Muriuki emphasized the government’s commitment to building strong public health systems based on community-led processes, aiming to enhance social accountability, improve healthcare quality, and increase accessibility.
This approach includes the establishment of Primary Healthcare Networks (PCNs) and the deployment of 100,000 Community Health Promoters to strengthen community involvement.
The stakeholders meeting seeks to create a unified approach for sustainable patient-centric systems for HIV prevention and curative services.
What is PrEP
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) is medicine taken to prevent getting HIV. It is highly effective for preventing HIV when taken as prescribed.
- PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%.
- PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from injection drug use by at least 74%.
PrEP is less effective when not taken as prescribed. Since PrEP only protects against HIV, condom use is still important for the protection against other STDs. Condom use is also important to help prevent HIV if PrEP is not taken as prescribed.
