US aid cuts are killing Kenyan sex workers

NAIROBI - Under an unmarked block of concrete in a Nairobi cemetery lie the remains of Judy, an HIV-positive Kenyan sex worker, who died just hours before she was due to meet AFP last month, one more victim of US aid cuts.

AFP has confirmed the deaths of at least 24 HIV-positive sex workers in Kenya who, like Judy, were in good health until aid was slashed by the United States in early 2025, according to frontline health staff.

The real number of deaths is likely far higher, and NGOs say there is already a huge spike in HIV infections among sex workers that will likely spark a "catastrophic" rise in cases among the general population.

The US has long been the biggest donor to Kenya's health system, but the Trump administration has restructured support away from NGOs, and passed rules to prevent them promoting issues it opposes.

A July 2026 report by the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) found that 73 percent of US-funded organisations had been forced to end services to "key populations" -- sex workers, LGBTQ communities, and drug users -- despite them facing the highest risk of infection.