HIV testing and discrimination: what the law says
HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act, 2006 · sources read 5 Oct 2026
No one can force you to take an HIV test for a job, marriage, school, travel, health care or insurance. Denying you a job, promotion, school place or health care, or charging you more, only because of your actual or suspected HIV status is against the law.
- Deadline
- 30 days to appeal to the Tribunal after the Commissioner of Insurance decides an insurance dispute
- Where
- HIV and AIDS Tribunal (Judiciary), Nairobi, or one of its county liaison offices
Steps
- Take a complaint to the HIV and AIDS Tribunal. It hears complaints about any breach of the HIV Act, such as forced testing, disclosure or discrimination.
- The Tribunal is part of the Judiciary and sits in Nairobi, with a few liaison offices in the counties.
- For an insurance dispute about what is "reasonable", appeal first to the Commissioner of Insurance, then to the Tribunal within 30 days of the Commissioner's decision.
Watch out
- A person charged with a sexual offence can be made to take an HIV test.
- For life or health cover above the insurer's no-test limit, the insurer may ask for an HIV test, and may then add a premium or decline cover.
- An employer can lawfully require a particular state of health only if it proves to the Tribunal that the job needs it.
Who this covers
- Everyone: job seekers, workers, students, patients, people buying insurance or getting married
- It covers your actual HIV status and also a status someone only suspects or assumes
Official sources (2)
- Know Your Tribunal: the HIV and AIDS Tribunal judiciary.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act (No. 14 of 2006), version of 31 December 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026