Kenya

Fact Sheets

Kenya (pdf)
MHRP Africa Programs (pdf)

The MHRP, through its Kericho site, has demonstrated excellence in executing HIV cohort, vaccine and therapeutics research as well as established an sustainable prevention, care and treatment program

Selected by the NIH AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) to participate as a Clinical Trials Unit with two Clinical Research sites in Kericho and Eldoret, Kenya
WRP-K established Kenya's first and only College of American Pathologist (CAP) certified laboratory
Conducted first HIV vaccine study in Kericho and the third in Kenya

Inventive Prevention Programs

Reaching Youth

The Kericho Youth Center has been instrumental in ensuring that young people in the district learn their HIV status—an important aspect to prevention and access to care and treatment.

The center offers a dynamic approach to behavior change and HIV prevention by combining recreational services with HIV counseling and testing.

Community Engagement

HIV prevention integrated into “traditional circumcision” ceremonies

WRP-K has developed a novel approach for HIV prevention and education that builds on Kenya’s tribal rites of passage tradition of male-circumcision.

By working with, and obtaining approval from, key village elders, WRP-K brought peer educators into villages, creating an opportunity to discuss HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health.

Walter Reed Project

For more than 10 years, Walter Reed Project–Kenya has helped accelerate HIV research, prevention, care and treatment efforts in Kenya.

Walter Reed Project–Kenya (WRP-K) is the local name for the U.S. Military HIV Research Program. WRP-K has an extensive expertise and infrastructure to support HIV research and vaccine development efforts, as well an expansive HIV prevention, care and treatment program.

WRP-K integrates HIV research and comprehensive care, which enables the team to achieve critical research goals while improving HIV treatment services for the region.

Activities in Kenya are centered at the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit–Kenya (USAMRU-K) on the campus of the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nairobi. The U.S. military has maintained a substantial program for infectious disease research in Kenya for nearly 40 years. Field site activities have been based in Kericho, in the Southern Rift Valley, since 1999. Recently, WRP-K has been working in close collaboration with Army colleagues who have a long record of malaria research in Kisumu and Kombewa around Lake Victoria of western Kenya.

HIV Research Includes:
Phase I/II Clinical Trial of Candidate HIV Vaccine Developed at Vaccine Research Center at NIH	Optimal Combination Therapy After Nevirapine Exposure Sponsored by NIH, AIDS Clinical Trials Group	HIV/Malaria Co-infection studies
ECHO A pilot acute infection studies at four network sites in East Africa and Thailand	IRIS An immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome clinical trial in Kericho	Cohort development and surveillance

Upcoming Research Studies

HIV Program "High Incidence" HIV Cohort Study
Phase I trial using DNA/Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) prime-boost vaccine strategy focusing on HIV subtype A
Additional therapeutics research
Both Eldoret and Kericho CRSs will be conducting additional ACTG studies and are being considered for a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) study

HIV Care and Treatment

Kericho’s Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program, initiated in 2001, has been the foundation for HIV care and treatment activities in the region. Director Fredrick Sawe, MBChB, MMED, has built the program to include 60 clinics. The team has counseled more than 60,000 women. This is the second largest PMTCT program in Kenya.

Progress Through PEPFAR

WRP-K began providing PEPFAR-supported services in Kericho in 2004. Working with local partners throughout the South Rift Valley and within the Kenyan Department of Defense, WRP-K has supported:

11,614	14,273	37,412	95,414
Patients currently receiving ART	Patients who ever received ART	Clients who received basic care and support	Clients who received counseling and testing

*As of March 09, inclusive of military and civilian programs

Activities have focused on developing the capacity of health facilities at two tea plantations, Kericho District Hospital, several surrounding private hospitals and a large mission hospital 50km southwest of Kericho. WRP-K recently added a voluntary counseling and testing program in the Kombewa district located near Kisumu.

WRP-K Supports Communities by:
Expanding the number of HIV clinical sites	Improving laboratory services and infrastructure	Assisting with data collection and human capacity development	Fostering counseling, testing and prevention programs

HIV Diagnostics and Reference Laboratory