Lead image for New drug shows promise in completely clearing HIV in newborns.
A promising new treatment could permanently eliminate HIV in newborns, offering a lifeline to thousands of infants born with the virus in Kenya and around the world.
Globally, over 120,000 newborns are infected with HIV each year, condemning them to a lifetime of reliance on costly and often inaccessible drugs, and adding to the global health burden.
In Kenya, an estimated 13,936 new HIV infections were recorded in 2026, with the majority occurring among children, adolescents, and young people, according to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC). Children aged 0–14 years accounted for 24.4 percent of all new cases, equivalent to 3,396 infections, highlighting that mother-to-child transmission remains a critical health challenge.
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Every year, approximately 18,000 to 19,400 Kenyans die from AIDS-related illnesses, NSDCC data shows.
Globally, HIV/AIDS continues to be a major public health issue, contributing to about 570,000 deaths annually, including 510,000 adults and 61,000 children under 15, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Experts warn that persistent gaps in care, funding cuts, limited access to treatment, and the high cost of antiretroviral therapy (ART) threaten to reverse the progress made over the years.
In an effort to spare children from a lifelong battle with HIV, researchers have developed a one-time drug regimen that, if given to newborns within three days of birth, could completely clear the virus.