The government has embarked on the distribution of 15.3 million Long-lasting Insecticidal nets (LLINs) in 22 high-burden counties to reduce cases of malaria in the country.
State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary (PS) Ms. Mary Muthoni Muriuki said that LLINs stand as a highly effective tool in malaria prevention and control programs and the distribution of LLINs to households has shown tremendous progress in the fight against malaria, with a significant drop in malaria prevalence from 8 percent to 6 percent nationally as per the Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey 2015 and 2020, respectively.
Ms. Muriuki said that to enhance the coverage and utilization of LLINs for malaria vector control, Kenya has adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of conducting mass LLIN distribution campaigns once every three years.
“In the 2023/24 campaign, the Ministry of Health, with the support of Global Fund and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative through the United States Agency for International Development, targets 22 high-burden counties, grouped into five clusters, with a goal to distribute 15.3 million nets,” said Ms. Muriuki in a statement to newsrooms.
The PS said that the State Department has approached this campaign with a different strategy, including the digitization of the entire process to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability at all levels.
Ms. Muriuki explained that the 2023/2024 mass net distribution campaign was launched in Homabay County on November 15, 2023, issuing 830,862 nets, covering 91 percent of registered households.
“Kisii County’s distribution is commencing on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, where 941,368 nets will be issued, and Nyamira County’s distribution will commence on January 31, 2024, issuing 449,974 nets. We extend our gratitude to the County Governments of Homabay, Kisii, and Nyamira for taking the lead in this campaign to combat malaria in these targeted counties,” said the PS.
According to Ms. Muriuki, the first mass distribution campaign for universal coverage took place in 2006, where 3.4 million nets were distributed, integrated with measles vaccination. This was followed by the 2011/12 campaign with the distribution of 10.6 million LLINs to populations in malaria endemic and epidemic regions,”
She explained that replacement distribution in 2014/15 involved 13.1 million nets, followed by the distribution of 15.1 million nets in 2017/2018 to safeguard the vulnerable population in the same regions. The 2020/21 campaign, conducted amid the challenges of COVID-19, saw the distribution of approximately 16.2 million nets across 27 counties.
To sustain the gains achieved and contribute further to effective malaria vector control in the country, Ms. Muriuki said that the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards has embarked on a relentless journey in the fight against malaria, recognizing it as a global and local public health concern.
“In Kenya, malaria has imposed a heavy burden on the people, with about 6.7 million clinical cases and 4,000 deaths reported in 2022. Children under five years and pregnant mothers continue to bear the brunt of this preventable disease,” she said.
Ms. Muriuki said that this week, the National Steering Committee and National Malaria Control programme have embarked on preparing the next six counties for distribution.
The PS said that this campaign, scheduled to run from January 22nd to February 3rd, 2024, targets Kisumu, Siaya, Migori (in the Lake endemic region), Kwale, Mombasa, and Taita Taveta (in the Coast Endemic region), utilizing lessons learned from past experiences.
“The exercise commenced on Monday January 22nd with data validation, county, and sub-county sensitization, training of health care workers, and training of community health workers (CHPs) and village elders,” said the PS.
She highlighted that this will be followed by validation and social mobilization for household registration, aligning with the government’s agenda of bottom-up economic transformation aimed at empowering people at households to own and control determinants of their health matters and health-seeking behavior, as a key pillar of our universal health coverage or Afya Nyumbani
Ms. Muriuki said that a total of 4,290,101 will be distributed in six counties that is Taita Taveta, Kwale, Mombasa Siaya, Kisumu, and Migori covering a targeted population of 6,687,628.
“After distributing nets in these six counties, we shall proceed to distribute in 10 more counties in March and April until all the targeted population receive their requisite LLINs,” said the PS.
“We urge the communities and beneficiaries to use the nets correctly and consistently to protect against mosquito bites, the primary mode of malaria transmission,” said Ms. Muriuki.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
