What Kenya should do to eliminate malaria - WHO

The World Health Organisation has called on Kenya to increase support for innovations for new tools in the fight against malaria.

The WHO has noted that even though Kenya continues to make great strides in the fight against malaria, there are new challenges that are threatening to blunt the country’s successes.

These include threats of resistance of malaria parasites to medicines and malaria diagnostics, and of mosquito vectors to Insecticides among others.

WHO Country Representative in Kenya Dr Diallo Abdourahmane on Wednesday said the Global Fund allocation to malaria has reduced in 2023 by 10 percent, compared to the last allocation cycle.

As a result, WHO has emphasized the need for increased investments in domestic financing for malaria interventions and human resources, strategic multi-sectoral collaborations, research and academic institutions, a strong community engagement and participation in the malaria response.

“WHO is aware of the new innovation - the new R21 malaria vaccine as a potential vaccine of public health importance, and awaits the expert review processes before a WHO recommendation can be made,” Diallo said.

Diallo further noted that the emergence of invasive malaria mosquitos such as the Anopheles stephensii vector, which was discovered in Marsabit, Moyale, and Turkana region is another emerging threat.

This is due to the fact that the mosquito transmits malaria with very high competence and thrives in urban habitats hence the increased risk to urban populations. 

The WHO 2022 report released last year showed that malaria cases in the country have continued to rise, with 3,419,698 cases having been recorded in 2021 up from 3,302,189 cases the previous year.

The report further showed that deaths from malaria also rose to 12,011 in 2021, up from 11,768 in 2020.

According to the report, Kenya accounted for 1.3 percent of all malaria cases globally in 2021, a rise from 1.1 percent the previous year but accounted for 1.9 percent of deaths globally in 2021, a decrease from 2 percent in 2020.

Each minute a child dies from malaria in the country and the disease remains a major public health problem in Kenya.

Due to altitude, rainfall patterns, and temperature, it is estimated that about 70 percent of the Kenyan population is at risk for malaria.

Besides being the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country, the disease is listed among the top 10 causes of outpatient visits countrywide.

The disease burden, however, remains the highest in counties In the Lake region accounting for 70 percent of the cases nationally.