Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will on Tuesday deliver a keynote address during the 36th Conference of the International Scientific Council of the Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC) in Mombasa.
Trypanosomiasis also known as sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans by bites of tsetse flies
The week-long summit which started Monday brings together stakeholders from more than 38 tsetse-infested African Union (AU) member states.
The council is a statutory body of the AU with the secretariat at African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in Nairobi.
More than 300 participants including disease control workers, scientists and researchers are meeting to discuss ways of tackling the disease.
Sleeping sickness is said to claim more than 50,000 lives annually, while over 65 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are currently at risk of contracting it.
It is caused by protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma, transmitted to humans by bites of tsetse flies which have acquired the parasites from infected humans or animals.
It affects both human and livestock health, limits land use and perpetuates poverty, posing a substantial barrier to the continent's growth and development.
According to AU-IBAR, Trypanosomiasis occurs over 10 million sq km in 38 countries and about 2,804 human cases were reported in 2015.
“About 50 million cattle are at risk with 35 million trypanocide doses used and 3 million deaths of cattle reported annually. Agricultural production loss due to trypanosomiasis is estimated at $5 billion per year,” the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources says.
At the end of the conference, the council will adopt recommendations guiding research and control of tsetse and trypanosomiasis for the next two years.
The conference's outcomes are expected to significantly improve livelihoods across the continent, particularly in regions heavily affected by tsetse and trypanosomiasis.
