Kenya Makes Progress in the War Against Malaria
NAIROBI, Kenya—Kenya is making progress in the war against malaria. Findings from the newly-released 2015 Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey (KMIS) show that the prevalence of malaria in Kenya has dropped from 11 percent in 2010 to eight percent in 2015.
Speaking during the launch of the survey’s results, Dr. Jackson Kioko, the acting director of medical services in the Ministry of Health, attributed the progress to increased ownership of mosquito nets and increased numbers of children with malaria being brought for treatment.
According to the survey, ownership of long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) has increased in the last six years. More than six in 10 households now own an LLIN, compared to 4.4 out of 10 in 2010. More important than the ownership of LLINs is the use of them, which has increased as well. More than half of the high-risk groups, particularly pregnant women and children under five years of age, reported having used LLINs the night before the survey. This is an increase from the more than one-third who reported using nets in 2010.
“The results we launch today are impressive and show that consistent investment and targeted implementation of interventions have yielded desired results,” said Dr. Kioko.
Speaking on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implementing partners in Kenya, Barbara Hughes, the director in the Office of Population and Health, congratulated the ministry for the progress made in the fight against malaria and applauded it for using data from the survey to design appropriate interventions.
“I am deeply encouraged by the results we just heard,” Ms. Hughes said. “They affirm that our work is bearing fruit. We are shrinking the malaria map in Kenya. As we have just seen, this survey highlights remarkable progress. With the new information provided, we can further refine our approaches.”
USAID invests $35 million annually towards malaria control through the procurement and distribution of LLINs and rapid-diagnostic kits, by improving case management and malaria surveillance, and by supporting surveys such as the Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey.
MEASURE Evaluation PIMA (MEval-PIMA), which is funded by USAID, works with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) at the Ministry of Health to strengthen its capacity in malaria monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and to improve collection, analysis, and use of data for strategic decisions. Additionally, MEval-PIMA works with counties that have high malaria infection rates to strengthen their capacity in M&E of key malaria indicators.
The 2015 KMIS was implemented in July and August 2015 by the National Malaria Control Programme in conjunction with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Funding for the survey was provided by the Government of Kenya with support from USAID, the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the Global Fund, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (UKAID), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). ICF International provided technical assistance through the DHS Program, which is a USAID-funded project providing technical assistance in the implementation of population and health surveys in countries worldwide.
Malaria remains a major cause of illness and death in Kenya, and accounts for 16 percent of all outpatient attendance in public health facilities, with children and pregnant women being the most vulnerable. Measuring Kenya’s progress with the malaria indicator survey makes use of a globally recognized and standardized tool for measuring key malaria indicators. The 2015 survey was the third conducted in the country after the first in 2007 and a second in 2010.
CLICK HERE for more on the findings of the Survey Report
Watch this Video for Highlights on the Survey.
