Syphilis infections cut by nearly half over the last 6 years

[00:00:00]As Kenya celebrates a massive public health victory on cutting national syphilis infections by nearly half over the last 6 years, data by the National Syndemic Disease Control Council indicates that the required medication is failing to reach everyone with a sexually transmitted infection, thus making a quiet but aggressive comeback in major cities at transport hubs and remote rural communities.

[00:00:30]>> According to data from the Joint AIDS Program Review, medical workers successfully screened over 1.42 million Kenyans for syphilis in 2025. Out of those tested, 9,057 people turned up positive. In 2020, Kenya recorded 15,787 positive syphilis cases out of 1.29 million people tested. By expanding testing and pouring resources into prenatal clinics and youth education, health authorities successfully cut total positive cases by more than 42% in 2025.

[00:01:08]This brought the national positivity rate, the percentage of tests that came back positive, down from 1.2% to an all-time low of 0.6%.

[00:01:20]But health experts warn that these national averages are hiding dangerous local outbreaks. The bacteria is no longer a generalized countrywide crisis.

[00:01:31]Instead, it has shifted into specific geographical pockets, leaving 15 counties recording high cases. Nairobi County is currently the nation's biggest problem area, the only county in Kenya to cross the 1,000 case threshold. In 2023, Nairobi recorded 961 positive cases. By 2025, that number jumped to 1,068 positives out of 161,020 people screened. While Nairobi leads in raw volume, Homa Bay County shows a much more concentrated bacterial footprint.

[00:02:10]In 2025, health workers in Homa Bay tested a much smaller pool of 37,348 individuals and recorded 508 positive cases. This gives Homa Bay a positivity rate of 1.4 %, double the intensity of Nairobi, proving the bacteria remains deeply rooted there, even though it had dropped from its alarming peak of 1,453 cases in 2021. Uasin Gishu County and Machakos recorded increased cases within the last year. Uasin Gishu County skyrocketed to 498 in 2025, while Machakos County recorded 157 cases in 2025. The comeback of syphilis poses a severe risk to maternal and neonatal health, as the infection can easily be passed from an untreated pregnant mother to her unborn child, leading to stillbirth or severe birth defects. In Nakuru County, 309 pregnant women tested positive for syphilis in 2024, a slight relief from the 474 cases recorded the year before, but still a deeply concerning number.

[00:03:25]Public health officials note the groups most at risk remain individuals with multiple sexual partners and pregnant women who skip vital antenatal health testing. In response, the Ministry of Health and the National Syndemic Disease Control Council have officially launched the Kenya AIDS Integration Strategic Framework. This strategy completely dismantled the old way of handling diseases in isolated parallel clinics.

[00:03:53]Instead, health authorities are legally moving syphilis out of its medical silo and folding it directly into a unified syndemic response, tracking and treating syphilis right alongside HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis.

[00:04:10]Helen Aura, NTV.

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