Mildmay Kenya
Mildmay Kenya works to empower communities to deliver HIV health care services through support, education and training. It reaches key affected and at-risk groups including young women, children, adolescents, MSM*, and sex workers
in 2024, we are planning to wind down Mildmay International and transfer full control of Mildmay Kenya to its Board of Trustees, enabling it to become fully independent. While we see this as a successful transition, Mildmay remains committed to supporting existing projects with your continued backing for as long as we can.
HIV in Kenya
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There are 1.4 million adults and children living with HIV in Kenya
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3.2% adult HIV prevalence (ages 15-49)
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17,000 new HIV infections
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21,000 AIDS-related deaths
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1.4 million people living with HIV
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1.3 million people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment**
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52,000 children on antiretroviral treatment**
Source: UNAIDS Data 2023
Source: beintheknow.org
Current projects:
Mildmay provides funding to train and maintain a network of voluntary community health workers in several counties of Kenya centred around Lake Victoria.
Community health workers work with other health workers to visit people in their homes. They offer support and advice, like helping people manage their health conditions or connect with doctors. They also encourage people to go to health centres for check-ups and tests, especially for pregnant women and people with HIV. Mildmay's volunteer community health workers are vital to help make sure everyone gets the care they need.
Provides a day's training for a community health worker (CHW) and each CHW covers up to 144 households. On average that equals 720 people reached by one person.
Mildmay Trustee, Naggib Chakhane, introduces the Bondo Youth Friendly Services Centre (BYFC), Siaya County, during a visit to inspect Mildmay's projects in Kenya in May 2022.
Past work
In this short film, Mildmay's CEO Geoff Coleman tells us about this new centre.
The aim of this project was to refurbish the only health centre on Mageta Island to improve healthcare standards and encourage the use of the clinic.
The health centre is the only one for all 12,000 inhabitants of the island.
Improving maternal and child health on Mageta Island in Lake Victoria
Healthcare for pregnant women on Mageta Island was basic and struggled to cope with emergency complications. The result of this was an unnecessary loss of life to both newborn babies and mothers.
Magnet Theatre has produced some of Mildmay Kenya’s most visible examples of behaviour change.
The Magnet Theatre Project, working with the local community in Siaya County, was envisaged to bring together young people to be able to discuss, access and contribute to the dialogue of HIV, SRHR (sexual and reproductive health rights) and demand creation and utilisation of the services related to HIV/SRHR.
Photo courtesy of Global Fund/John Rae
The Global Fund HIV Programme, administered in Kenya through the Kenya Red Cross Society, undertakes to expand universal access to care and treatment services.
Mildmay Kenya is a sub-recipient of the fund and is working with Community Health workers in Samia, Teso South, Siaya and Bondo to advance care and support of the chronically ill, prevention of parent to child transmission, HIV testing and counselling as well as enhancing quality leadership and governance.
Lying off the eastern shores of Lake Victoria adjacent to Siaya, Mageta Island is about 8km from end to end and about one kilometre wide at its widest. Its total surface area is around 6.6 square kilometres. It is located in Bondo district, one of the poorest districts in Kenya.
The main economic activities are fishing and small-scale subsistence farming.
Despite social, economic and political advances elsewhere in Kenya, the island community feels isolated and there is little development in infrastructure, health and education. The island is not connected to the electricity grid and inefficient solar power cells generate barely enough power to light 40w light bulbs.
*Mildmay in the UK supports our 'daughter' NGOs overseas
Mildmay KENYA and Mildmay UGANDA operate independently - they are locally registered with their own Boards of Trustees and constitutions. Although they undertake fundraising and partnership work locally, they rely on Mildmay's supporters in the UK to help fund their work.