Why Kenya must reinforce its fight against malaria now

As the world marks World Malaria Day on April 25, there is an urgent need for targeted interventions and prompt actions to contain the growing menace.

Towards the end of 2022 and into early 2023, malaria ravaged large parts of Baringo County, highlighting how the disease continues to be a persistent national burden.

In Kenya, malaria is estimated to account for 30 per cent of hospital visits, between 25 to 45 per cent of hospital admissions and 10 to 12 per cent of deaths of its victims.

Economic costs due to malaria run into millions. The usual outbreaks in Baringo and other parts of the country show malaria is slowing down economic growth. Data from Health ministry reveals the disease slows down economic growth by 1.3 per cent annually.

What was witnessed in Baringo and other endemic zones shows there is little evidence that the war against malaria is being won as cases of the disease are still high in endemic zones or regions. Even though the use of insect-treated bednets has increased from 15 per cent in 2,000 to over 60 per cent in 2022, this has not achieved much to reduce the outbreaks.

The coverage of insect-treated bednets for children under five years has increased from 30 per cent in 2005 to 75 per cent in 2022. This is according to the latest health survey demographic report. This is also the same to other risk groups such as pregnant women.

According to medical experts on parasitic diseases, to win the war against malaria, Kenya needs to constantly change her national drug policy to combat this stubborn drug resistant parasitic disease. Poor people are exposed to infections since they have little access to health services while people with HIV/Aids are particularly vulnerable. This means controlling malaria is one way of reducing poverty, experts say.

An estimated Sh450 million is needed every year to scale up malaria control programmes, research and interventions. A survey shows that majority of children in urban areas sleep under Insect Treated Nets (ITNs) while majority of their counterparts in rural areas do not sleep under ITNs.

For this reason, the government and other stakeholders in the war against the spread, the infections and the deaths from the disease must intensify and increase the distributions of ITNs to people at risk of infections in rural areas and in endemic zones.

“The Government should subside or distribute the nets free during immunisation campaigns and programmes in antenatal clinics and also immunise children aged between 9 months to two years with the new anti-malarial vaccine in all endemic zones,” says Prof Charles Chunge, the Director Centre for Travel and Communicable Diseases. Prof Chunge says over the last 45 years, malaria has become resistant to first line drugs in many countries.