KAIS 2007 1 - Kenya National AIDS & STI Control Programme ...

Figure 5.3a Self-reported HIV status among HIV-infected persons aged 15-64 years, Kenya2007.Self-reportedpositive16.4%Never tested ornever receivedresults56.0%Self-reportednegative27.6%Figure 5.3a The majority of HIV-infected persons did not know they were HIV-infected.Among all HIV‐infected persons in the 2007 KAIS, only 16.4% self‐reported positive based on their lastHIV test. Overall, 27.6% of HIV‐infected persons self‐reported negative, that is, these participantsbelieved themselves to be HIV‐uninfected based on the results of their last HIV test. The remaining56.0% reported that they had either never been tested or had been tested but never received a testresult. HIV‐infected women (31.4%) were significantly more likely than men (19.5%) to self‐reportnegative based on their last test result. In total, 83.6% of HIV‐infected adults aged 15‐64 years wereunaware of their HIV infection because they had never been tested, had been tested but never receiveda test result, or believed themselves to be uninfected based on their last test. Based on these findings, in2007, an estimated 1.1 million HIV‐infected adults nationwide were unaware of their HIV status,including an estimated 700,000 women and 400,000 men.Although 45.0% of HIV‐infected persons reported having had a previous HIV test before the 2007KAIS, the majority (62.8%) of these persons self‐reported negative based on their last test result. Manyof these people may have become HIV‐infected since their previous test. Most respondents (56.4%), forexample, reported that their last HIV test was performed over 12 months prior to the 2007 KAIS. Thesepersons may have been exposed and infected since their last negative test. In addition, the medianCD4 cell count was higher in this group (595.0 cells/μL) suggesting possible recent infection, ascompared to HIV‐infected respondents who self‐reported positive (412.0 cells/μL), 51.4% of whomwere currently on antiretroviral therapy. It is also possible that some of these individuals knew theywere HIV‐infected but did not answer the question about their HIV status accurately, although theywere given a special opportunity to opt‐out of answering this question and only 1.9% declined toanswer.KAIS 2007 83