By Sharon Onyango<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6ff8b96b-3f8f-401a-99b0-1adf4b1c4ea1.jpeg\")
The County Government of Siaya, through the Department of Health and Sanitation, is stepping up efforts to tackle the growing burden of HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), malaria, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through a new County Operational Plan (COP) aligned to the Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (KASF) 2025\u20132030.<\/p>\n
During a stakeholder engagement meeting attended by health officials, partners, and community representatives, stakeholders underscored the need for integrated healthcare services, stronger health systems, and sustainable financing as donor support steadily declines.<\/p>\n
Siaya County continues to face a significant disease burden, with HIV prevalence standing at 9.8% compared to the national average of 3.7% [2023]. Malaria prevalence remains at 24%, while TB incidence is estimated at 363 cases per 100,000 population. Poverty, stigma, gender inequalities, and fragmented health programs continue to hinder effective service delivery and negatively impact patient outcomes.<\/p>\n
The County Operational Plan seeks to address these challenges by promoting integrated chronic disease care, community-based interventions, differentiated service delivery models, digital health system strengthening, and increased domestic financing for health programs.The plan will serve as a guiding document for the next five years, helping the county prioritize interventions within existing financial constraints while mobilizing additional resources through coordinated forums and partnerships.<\/p>\n
The county also reported major gains in HIV treatment and care. In 2024, approximately 96,393 people were on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Of these, 82,772 underwent viral load testing, with 86% achieving viral suppression. Among 96,812 eligible clients, 99% were receiving treatment support, while overall treatment success rates stood at 93%.<\/p>\n
Despite the progress, stigma remains a major barrier to care and treatment adherence, with stakeholders calling for intensified community awareness and stigma reduction campaigns.<\/p>\n
The discussions also focused on strengthening the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, improving referral systems, and expanding people-centered healthcare models through community care and household-based approaches.<\/p>\n
On TB management, officials raised concerns over the increasing number of patients who do not present with positive sputum results, rising from 41% in 2024 to 55% in 2025. HIV and TB co-infection rates were also reported at 56%, reinforcing the need for integrated HIV, TB, and malaria services.<\/p>\n
Zilper Imbuye, the PMTCT coordinator, stressed the importance of sustaining health programs amid declining donor funding. Stakeholders proposed expanding health financing through registration into the Social Health Authority (SHA) and strengthening county-led financing mechanisms to reduce dependence on external support.<\/p>\n
The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment from county leaders and partners to build a county free of new HIV infections while improving access to quality, integrated, and sustainable healthcare services for all residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Sharon Onyango The County Government of Siaya, through the Department of Health and Sanitation, is stepping up efforts to tackle the growing burden of HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), malaria, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through a new County Operational Plan (COP) aligned to the Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (KASF) 2025\u20132030. During a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":29822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}