NIH Trial Cuts HIV Rates by 70% in Rural Africa

Pairing digital tools with tailored HIV services delivered by community health workers and clinicians led to dramatic reduction in new HIV cases.

Feb. 25, 2026 at 6:05am

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A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reduced new HIV cases by 70% in rural Kenya and Uganda by pairing digital tools with tailored HIV services delivered by community health workers and clinicians. The successful implementation of existing healthcare infrastructure and available HIV prevention and treatment options could become a model for reducing HIV incidence in other countries, including the United States.

Why it matters

Despite the availability of effective HIV prevention and treatment options, an estimated 30,000 people in the U.S. and 1.3 million globally still acquire HIV each year, largely because healthcare systems struggle to reach and retain those who need these services. This NIH-funded study demonstrates an effective model for leveraging existing community resources to dramatically improve HIV outcomes in rural areas.

The details

The study involved 16 rural communities in Kenya and Uganda, with one community in each pair randomly assigned to receive a three-part intervention. This included: 1) trained community health workers visiting homes to offer HIV testing and referrals; 2) healthcare providers at local clinics delivering personalized, client-centered HIV prevention and care; and 3) enhanced use of a ministry-compatible app to link health workers, clinicians, and services. After two years, the intervention communities saw a 70% reduction in new HIV cases compared to control communities, driven by a four-fold increase in use of HIV prevention services like PrEP and PEP.

  • The study took place from 2023 to 2025.
  • The findings were presented at the 33rd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2026) in Denver in February 2026.

The players

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The U.S. government's medical research agency, which co-funded this study through several of its institutes.

Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) consortium

A longstanding research group that has been testing population-level interventions to end the HIV epidemic and improve community health in East Africa.

Jeffrey K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D.

The acting director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-funded the study.

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What they’re saying

“The findings from this innovative study underscore the critical value of conducting implementation research that tests HIV prevention and treatment strategies in real world settings.”

— Jeffrey K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., Acting Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

What’s next

Researchers plan to further study how this intervention model could be adapted and scaled to reduce HIV incidence in other rural and underserved regions globally.

The takeaway

This successful implementation of existing healthcare resources and HIV prevention/treatment tools in rural Africa demonstrates a promising approach that could help address persistent gaps in reaching and retaining people in need of these critical services, not just in developing countries but also in parts of the United States and other high-income nations.