- “Machines ran at only 46 per cent and 47 per cent capacity in 2019 and 2020, respectively,” Global Fund says in the audit report released last week.
- The Ministry of Health says in 2020, about 5,660 childhood TB cases were reported.
The number of Kenyan children infected with TB is much higher than initially thought, with close to 40 per cent of cases going undetected.
The Ministry of Health says in 2020, about 5,660 childhood TB cases were reported. This represents eight per cent of all notified cases against a national target of 10 to 15 per cent.
The figures have not changed much since then, the national tuberculosis, leprosy and lung disease programme says.
Young children are more likely to have TB spread through their bloodstream and cause complications, such as meningitis.
According to the latest audit report by Global Fund, the main financier of TB programmes in Kenya, the low yield is due to under-testing.
The fund, in its Kenyan audit report released last week, says there is low utilisation of GeneXpert machines, which offer the fastest way to detect TB.
Kenya has more than 150 GeneXpert machines, bought with Global Fund support and they are faster and more accurate than the traditional ways of testing TB.
“Machines ran at only 46 per cent and 47 per cent capacity in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Several machines in the public sector were not functional due to lack of maintenance,” Global Fund says in the audit report released last week.
“A one-year maintenance contract for GenXpert equipment was signed in April 2021, the previous one expired in March 2019.”
The TB programme under the Ministry of Health did not answer Star's request to respond to the GF audit.
The fund's report added: “Other reasons for the low utilisation include inefficient deployment of machines, not procuring a sputum transportation service provider under the National Treasury TB grant and disruptions in cartridge supply.”
The Ministry of Health says many adult TB cases are also being missed.
TB notifications declined from 97,164 confirmed cases in 2018 to 85,522 in 2019.
According to the GF audit, active case-finding in 2020 only achieved a 73,310 yield against a target of 111,062 (66 per cent), largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic
The burden of TB in Kenya has shown consistent reduction over the last eight years.
Between 1990 and 2014, the TB case detection rate increased from 30 per cent to 80 per cent.
That year, Kenya became the first African country to achieve the WHO targets for case detection and treatment.
However, that progress appears to have stalled.
Currently, Kenya is not one of the 30 countries with the highest drug resistant TB burdens, but it remains in the top 30 for TB and HIV burdens.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)