Kenya is a country located in Africa with a population of 30,339,770 people. Of those people, 2,100,000 are living with AIDS and HIV. In researching the health in Kenya I felt like the most important thing to focus on was the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is devastating this country. This disease has turned into a complex plague that has devastated the social, economic, and political structures of Kenya. .
AIDS was first recognized in 1981 among homosexual men in the USA and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first identified in 1983. In Kenya the first AIDS victim was identified in 1984 and marked the beginning of a new era in Kenya's history. Since its first case, AIDS has grown exponentially in Kenya. It is estimated that 2.1 million Kenyans are now living with HIV infection, but few know that they are infected or are showing outward symptoms of the disease. Approximately 200,000 have AIDS while the same number acquires the virus each year. Over 1.5 million Kenyan have died of AIDS. Since the epidemic started, over 60 million people have been infected with the virus worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS is the leading cause of death while globally it is the 4th biggest killer disease. .
Factors contributing to the spread of HIV and AIDS in Kenya include high population density in urban areas, high population mobility along trading routes, low rates of male circumcision, multiple sex partnering, and cultural practices such as widow inheritance and wife sharing. The region's dependence on migrant labor creates a climate where monogamy is difficult to sustain, given separation between spouses. Men, given limited economic opportunities, often leave their wives in the rural homesteads to go where the work is. The men are housed together in isolated males-only hostels but have easy access to prostitutes or a "town wife". These men contract HIV, then go home to wives and girlfriends carrying the virus they do not know they have.