More than 960,000 malnourished children have been reached with nutritional supplements as drought continues to ravage several parts of the country.
The government has however, refuted claims that children have died as a result of the drought.
It says the interventions put in place have averted any possible fatalities as the situation gets worse.
The government with support of partners such as Unicef and WHO has been screening children in the worst hit counties are putting them on treatment.
“There has been intervention in that regard. We have given nutritional supplements and if there are any deaths for children, they haven’t been associated with the drought specifically for now,” CS Rebecca Miano said on Thursday.
“We are going to follow up with the specific areas that are affected to ensure that we avert any of these eventualities. However, I am certain that the nutritional supplements and interventions have been able to assist the children,” she added.
Miano is the Cabinet secretary for the EAC, Asals and Regional Development.
Last year, data from the Ministry of Health had shown that 134,000 pregnant and lactating women in the country were acutely malnourished.
Also, 942,500 children aged between six months and five years were urgently in need of therapeutic treatment for acute malnutrition.
Acute malnutrition takes place when the body doesn’t receive the nutritional support it requires.
The body adapts by reducing physical activity and slowing the processes involved in proper organ function and cell and tissue maintenance.
The number of children in dire need of urgent interventions keeps increasing and the situation is likely to worsen, as parts of the country suffer from the impact of poor rains for five consecutive seasons.
The support being channeled through Unicef has enabled Kenya to conduct mass screening of children and women in the most affected counties of Mandera, Turkana, Wajir, Marsabit, Garissa, Samburu and Isiolo.
