Three high burden counties receive drugs to help combat malaria

Residents of Kisumu, Busia and Uasin Gishu counties will benefit from life-saving drugs for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria.

The three are among the counties that bear the largest burden of malaria.

This is after the pharmaceutical firm Bliss GVS donated an assortment of antimalarial medications to the three counties to complement the government's effort in improving healthcare.

The Artemisinin-based combination therapy will aid in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria, and improve the availability and accessibility of antimalarial drugs in the region.

This is being done through an initiative dubbed ‘Act for Africa’ that aims to ensure a malaria-free continent.

“We understand the devastating impact malaria has on people’s lives, and we are delighted to be helping fight this disease,” Romeo Pilkington said.

“We hope that our donation will go a long way in providing this much-needed treatment to the people in the area,” Pilkington added.

Pilkington is the Bliss GVS Pharma regional sales representative.

While receiving the medications, Lumumba Subcounty Medical Superintendent Dr Pamela Olilo acknowledged that the disease is a major threat in the region noting that the donation will help improve access to medicine for patients and save lives.

“We are very grateful to Bliss GVS Pharma for this timely contribution. Malaria is a major health challenge in the Western region and we need all the support we can to combat it,” Olilo said.

This comes ahead of World Malaria Day which is observed annually on April 25, to bring global attention to efforts made to end malaria.

This year’s theme is ‘Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement’ and will be marked in Nyamira county.

Western Kenya and Nyanza are prone to malaria, while access to health facilities is another problem.

On Wednesday, Health PS Josephine Mburu reiterated the role of the private sector in contributing to the fight against malaria through multisectoral advocacy and resource mobilization.

Mburu noted that external funding is either stagnating or declining in an environment of increasing needs hence the need to urgently address the financial resource gap which currently stands at 50 per cent of the resources required to fully implement the Kenya Malaria Strategic Plan.

“The recent efforts by the End Malaria Council Kenya to mobilize an additional more than Sh130 million towards the fight are an excellent show of commitment by the private sector,” Mburu said.

This mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is native to South Asia and the Middle East. It transmits the two malaria parasites that pose the greatest risk of severe illness and death: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax.

In Kenya, there are an estimated 3.5 million new clinical cases and 10,700 deaths each year, and those living in western Kenya have an especially high risk of malaria according to Centre for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC).

Recently, the Kenya Medical Research Institute detected an invasive mosquito species in Kenya posing a major public health threat.

This mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is native to South Asia and the Middle East. It transmits the two malaria parasites that pose the greatest risk of severe illness and death: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax.

In Kenya, there are an estimated 3.5 million new clinical cases and 10,700 deaths each year, and those living in western Kenya have an especially high risk of malaria according to Centre for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC).