Fear As 98 Kenyan teenage girls get infected with HIV weekly
According to the Ministry of Health, at least 98 girls ages 10–19 were infected with HIV every week between January and February.
Leah Mukangai 
This is an improvement over the more than 343 new HIV cases reported each week among young girls in 2015.
According to Health PS Susan Mochache, Kenya registered 45,724 occurrences of teen pregnancies during the two months, while 2,196 cases of sexual and gender-based violence among those aged 12-17 were reported.
Health PS Susan Mochache. PHOTO FILE
The PS spoke at the Coast at a four-day national dialogue conference with county commissioners on their coordinating role in combating HIV, teen pregnancy, and gender-based violence.
“Working together with our partners, Kenya made great strides towards ending AIDS as a public health threat,” PS Mochache stated.
Mochache further stated that HIV intervention programs resulted in a 67% decrease in annual AIDS-related fatalities between 2013 and 2021.
The PS further stated that there was concern about the high rate of sexual and gender-based violence, which has infected many women and girls with HIV while also depriving them of their dignity.
“We will not win if one in every five girls continues to bear a child before their 19th birthday. This is the reason why we must approach this agenda with a preventive lens through a one-government Approach,” PS Mochache explained.
In addition to committing to eradicate teenage pregnancy by 2030 at the International Conference on Population and Development, Kenya has also pledged to address all types of sexual and gender-based violence and end HIV as a public health issue by 2030.
According to the PS, the goal can only be achieved by strictly enforcing laws to safeguard minors and educate the entire nation that all forms of sexual and gender-based violence are still unacceptable.
The National AIDS Control Council (NACC), National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), and other partners, as well as the national government, have created the Triple Threat program, which aims to stop early pregnancy, and new HIV infections, and Gender-Based Violence among young girls.
The initiative is aimed at all adolescent girls in 47 counties.
According to NACC CEO Ruth Laibon, Kenya spends a total of Sh25 billion each year on HIV management and prevention commodities.
