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Why Kenya is not winning the war against malaria in some counties

Monday, April 23, 2018 — updated on December 18, 2020 - 5 min read

In the past 15 years the Kenyan government has made great strides in preventing and controlling malaria. But it isn't fully winniing the war. FILE PHOTO

By THE CONVERSATION

In the past 15 years the Kenyan government has made great strides in preventing and controlling malaria.

It has issued insecticide treated bed nets, sprayed people’s homes with insecticides and ensured that there is widespread diagnostic testing.

Provide adequate supplies of anti-malarials as well as enough diagnostic facilities and equipment
Increase their distribution of insecticide-treated bednets as only 52% of the population living in malaria risk zones has been covered.
Improve the way they manage their environments and introduce targeted larval control. This includes filling up the unnecessary ditches and trenches, draining stagnant water and applying larvicides into the irrigation canals to reduce the vector population.
The highly localised nature of breeding sites in these semi-desert environments provides a good opportunity.
Improve public health education and awareness. Pregnant women should be told of the benefits of taking antimalarial drugs during pregnancy and other residents should be encouraged to sleep under insecticide treated nets and to avoid unnecessary exposure to mosquito bites.
There are other, more radical steps, county governments could take.
Because house types have become an important factor in malaria transmission they could consider encouraging people to shift from mud grass thatched huts to concrete houses with sealable windows.
They could also consider deploying mobile clinics and investing in ambulances to ferry patients from far-flung parts of the counties.