Kenyans to get 10 million mosquito nets during El Niño

Ministry of Health will in November begin distributing millions of mosquito nets following warnings of a spike in mosquitos during the El Niño rains.

At least 10.2 million treated nets will be distributed from November until July 2024.

Global Fund, which is paying for the nets, nullified the tender to procure them early this year and offered to do it directly to its own procurement wing, wambo.org, following corruption allegations.

Public Health Principal Secretary Josephine Mburu was sacked in May, while Peter Tum was instead moved to another ministry still as a PS due to the nets mess.

The ministry announced it is currently hosting a meeting in Kilifi county to plan the distribution of the nets.

“The meeting is a crucial step in preparing our Trainers of Trainees for the upcoming Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets distribution campaign, scheduled to launch in November 2023,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The microplanning meeting's agenda is comprehensive, with a focus on key areas, such as identifying target communities and equipping our TOTs with the necessary digital platform skills using their smartphones.”

The nets cost at least Sh3.7 billion.

The World Health Organisation asked countries to prepare for possible outbreak of diseases, such as dengue and malaria, due to the high probability of heavy El Niño rains in 2023 and 2024.

Director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said the phenomenon could influence the breeding of mosquitoes, spiking the spread of diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

"WHO is preparing for the very high probability that 2023 and 2024 will be marked by an El Niño event, which could increase transmission of dengue and other so-called arboviruses, such as Zika and chikungunya,” Dr Tedros said.

The El Niño — warmer water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean — influences weather globally and is likely to cause heavy rains in Kenya from September or October, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department.

Dr Tedros further said climate change is already fuelling the breeding of mosquitoes, and the incidence of dengue has already risen sharply in recent decades.

Malaria, chikungunya virus and dengue virus are endemic causes of fever among children in Kenya, and outbreaks are common in wet seasons.

Both chikungunya and dengue are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, while malaria is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.

Even before the WHO announcement, Kenya had indicated it is monitoring Rift Valley Fever, cholera and malaria, among other diseases, ahead of the expected El Niño rains.

The Kenya Meteorological Department earlier reported that some regions of the North Eastern region of Kenya had received three times the normal rainfall between March and May 2018.

For RVF, flooding provides ideal conditions for mosquito multiplication and, consequently, disease emergence.

In Kenya, RVF is a priority zoonotic disease because of the high morbidity and mortality.

The last major outbreak in 2006–07 resulted in about 340 human cases, 90 human deaths and economic losses of more than $32 million (Sh4.4 billion) in direct livestock mortality and indirect losses, partly due to impediments to trade, according to studies.

Data from the 2016 El Niño around the world showed cholera outbreaks were elevated in eastern Africa, and dengue was indeed more frequent than usual in Brazil and Southeast Asia.

Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and hepatitis A usually come when floods affect water availability, quality and sanitation.

Kenya managed to avert an RVF outbreak during the 2016 El Niño through a mass vaccination programme for domestic livestock.

Livestock can pass the disease to certain mosquito species and directly to humans through milk and blood.

There is currently no human vaccine to prevent RVF.