Kenya is on track to achieving targets in voluntary male medical circumcision, the Ministry of Health has said.
Data from the ministry shows that 91.7 per cent of adult male Kenyans have undergone circumcision. The target is 95 per cent.
"We have now expanded our interventions to male infants and children using modern technology,” Health DG Patrick Amoth said on Friday.
The government now plans to put more focus on reaching men who do not know their HIV status.
Due to poor health seeking behaviour, a large proportion of men remain undiagnosed.
According to UNAIDS, research shows that removing the foreskin is associated with a variety of health benefits including lower rates of urinary tract infections in male infants.
It also reduces the risk of certain inflammations and health problems.
“We celebrate the emerging clear evidence that undetectable is untransmittable. That is a game changer and calls for us to work very strategically with people with HIV to ensure viral suppression and to rapidly roll back the epidemic,” Amoth said.
Scientists say male circumcision probably reduces the risk of HIV infection by up to 60 per cent because it removes tissue in the foreskin that is particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Data from the World Health Organization shows that nearly 18.6 million male circumcisions for HIV prevention were performed between 2008 and 2017 in the 14 priority countries of East and Southern Africa, Kenya included.
It is estimated that one HIV infection was averted for every 80 circumcisions performed during the 2008 to 2017 scale-up phase.
To enhance sustainability and achievement of universal health coverage, the government invested Sh3 billion in the last financial year towards HIV response, with the amount doubling to Sh5.6 billion this year.
“While we celebrate progress, we take note that mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety and trauma are higher among persons with HIV compared to those not,” Amoth said.
“The risk for hypertension, high blood cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases is two times higher among those living with HIV with poor disease progression for some conditions like kidney disease.”
Data from the ministry shows that Kenya has seen a reduction of new HIV infections by more than half from 75,000 in 2010 to about 32,000 in 2021 and a decline of the national HIV prevalence to 4.3 per cent in 2021 from a peak of 11 per cent in the mid 1990s.
Similarly, there has been a decline in mother-to-child transmission from 13.9 per cent to 8.3 per cent in 2021.
There has been an increase in access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment from being offered in national referral facilities in 2006 to more than 3,500 facilities and community delivery across the country to more than 1.2 million Kenyans.
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