In Kenya, the WHO World Health Report (2004) indicates an adult mortality⁵² rate per 1000 population of 509 for males and 448 for females. Life expectancy for males is 49.8; for females 51.9. Healthy life expectancy is 44.1 for males; 44.8 for females.⁵³

HIV/AIDS is a huge burden for Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the region in 2003, an estimated 23-27 million people were thought to be living with the disease which also caused up to 2.5 million deaths. This represents a huge loss and impacts significantly on health systems and social and family structures.

Kenya is one of the worst HIV/AIDS affected countries in Eastern Africa. Estimates suggest that in Kenya, between 820,000 and 1.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003. In the same year, up to 200,000 adults and children are thought to have died from the disease (Table 4).

Table 4 Kenya HIV and AIDS estimates, end 2003

Source: 2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic.

UNAIDS reports:

Trends indicate that the annual number of AIDS deaths is still rising steeply and has doubled over the past six years to about 150,000 deaths per year. New infections, however, may be dropping to around 80,000 each year. The majority of new infections occur among youth; especially young women aged 15–24 and young men under the age of 30. HIV infection among adults in urban areas (10%) is almost twice as high as in rural areas (5–6%). The president and his government have demonstrated strong political leadership in the battle against HIV/AIDS, exemplified by the president's personal engagement and his declaration of "Total War on HIV/AIDS" in March 2003. President Kibaki has also established a Cabinet Committee on HIV/AIDS, which serves as the highest-level HIV/AIDS policy and leadership body of the government.

The National AIDS Control Council (NACC), established in 1999, provides overall coordination and leadership to the multisectoral response to the epidemic. Its recent Joint Institutional Review brought an enhanced understanding of the roles and relationships of decentralized government structures and how they can contribute more effectively and efficiently to the overall national response. Kenya is the recipient of US $129 million through the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS over five years. It also benefits from PEPFAR, which provided US $75 million for prevention and treatment increase in 2004 alone. In addition to these relatively new contributions, Kenya negotiated a World Bank credit for US$ 50 million for the period 2000–2005 under the Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme (MAP) for Africa. The UN System has pledged approximately US $15 million in 2004 for HIV/AIDS initiatives.⁵⁴