•The launch took place on Thursday, under the banner of the Great Lakes Malaria Initiative.
•Malaria remains a major public health concern in Kenya and is listed among the top 10 causes of outpatient visits countrywide.
The war against malaria has gained momentum after launch of control and prevention interventions at the Kenya-Uganda Busia border.
The launch took place on Thursday, under the banner of the Great Lakes Malaria Initiative.
It seeks to eliminate malaria in the Great Lakes region in a synchronised manner for better outcomes.
This will include distribution of bed nets, Indoor Residual Spraying and implementation of other critical malaria control interventions to achieve maximum impact.
“The launch recognises that as East Africa Community member states, none of us in an island and malaria does not recognise administrative borders,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
“Malaria is spread across borders by movement of both mosquitoes and persons infected with the parasite."
This is after it emerged that the EAC countries namely Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda contribute a significant proportion of malaria burden worldwide.
In 2017, the EAC region contributed 24.7 per cent of all reported malaria cases worldwide and 10.2 per cent of deaths due to malaria.
Malaria remains a major public health concern in Kenya. Besides being the leading cause of morbidity and mortality the disease is listed among the top 10 causes of outpatient visits countrywide.
The disease burden however remains the highest in lake region counties, which account for 70 per cent of the 6.5 million cases nationally.
The World Malaria Report 2019, estimated that more than 400,000 people died of malaria globally out of which 90 per cent (360,000) of the deaths occurred in Africa.
“We also share other transmission risk factors such as climate change, water bodies, malaria vector species, insecticide resistance, population growth rate and limited resources,” Kagwe said.
“This launch therefore provides a unique opportunity to member states of EAC, to engage in joint efforts and strengthen cross-border collaboration to eliminate malaria."
In Kenya, malaria prevalence rate in the lake region bears the highest disease burden but it has reduced from 27 per cent in 2015 to 19 per cent in 2020.
The lake region endemic counties include Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Vihiga, Siaya, Busia and parts of Bungoma and Kakamega.
A survey released by the Health ministry last year showed the overall prevalence of the disease has reduced from eight per cent in 2015 to 5.6 per cent in 2020.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)