Kenya has eliminated maternal deaths caused by malaria to zero per cent.
This is from the 20 per cent that the country used to record four years ago.
According to James Sang, the programs officer for malaria control program in Kenya, the government has been able to contain malaria as a disease.
“Currently, the area that is recording the highest malaria patients is the lake region that is having 38 per cent of malaria related cases. The country is stable with only ten per cent of malaria cases being diagnosed annually,” he added.
He was speaking at Masada hotel during the launch of the Malaria Early warning system mechanism where he lamented that majority of the people were not using the malaria prevention tools. Sang argued that the communities understanding of the transmission of the disease was a huge challenge
“Our greatest challenge has been to encourage people to use the mosquito nets or even to spray their compounds," he added.
The new system will enable the government to pick strategic positions in the country that are prone to malaria and reflect on heath vulnerability from time to time. This will enable the government put in place proper mechanism including purchasing drugs and carrying out sensitisation campaigns in the region.
World Health Organisation country representative Custodia Mandlhate said that they intended to eliminate malaria completely by the year 3030.
“WHO supported the establishment of the malaria hubs in Nakuru and Kisumu to help in monitoring the disease. They have been able to install two automatic weather stations for enhanced monitoring of malaria epidemic potential areas,” Mandlhate added.