Partnerships key in fighting disease

For about half the world’s population, malaria remains one of the greatest threats to public health. Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicentre of the world’s malaria control activities, where the disease casts a shadow not only over health, but also on educational achievement, worker productivity, and economic development.

About 80 per cent of the world’s malaria cases are estimated to be in tropical Africa and a similar percentage of Kenya’s population lives in areas where they are exposed to malaria. In the parts of Kenya most-affected by this disease (mostly the western and coastal regions) , one out of every five patients admitted to hospital is sick with malaria. Children under-five years of age and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable.

Economically, it is estimated that 170 million working days in Kenya are lost each year because of malaria. What does this tell us? That we cannot underestimate the terrible effect that this disease has on Kenya. But we must also remember that it can be beaten. On Sunday, we celebrate World Malaria Day. It is a global call to action against malaria and the US government is responding enthusiastically.

Together with the Kenyan government, non-government organizations and the private sector, we are committed to stop malaria and its contribution to many Kenyans’ cycle of disease, poverty and death. This year’s World Malaria Day theme in Kenya is Malaria-Free Kenya possible through Partnerships. We could not agree more. If we are to win the war against this disease we have to do it together.

It is not a fight to be fought by health workers alone. All sectors of Kenya’s economy and society will have to be actively engaged in this struggle. It will be a victory shared by many partners. The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) is America’s response to the global fight against malaria and in Kenya it is working hand-in-hand with both government and non-government actors to move Kenya towards the elimination of malaria.

Led by the US Agency for International Development (USaid) and implemented jointly with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PMI was launched in Kenya in 2007 and has committed an estimated US$80 million to the fight against malaria in this country since then.

PMI’s contribution includes the purchase of over 10 million doses of malaria treatment that have been distributed without cost to Kenyans in all public health facilities. The programme has also purchased over 1.2 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Treated Nets protecting pregnant women and children below the age of one. Over 3 million people have been protected by having their homes sprayed against mosquitoes — another activity that has been supported by PMI.

Seven thousand health workers have been trained by PMI. They serve as the country’s main defence against illness and now have skills to better manage the treatment and prevention of malaria. The fight against malaria is indeed a partnership and it is that partnership that brings together the efforts of the government and entities such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UK Department for International Development, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund in addition to PMI.

Through the support and collaboration of these partners, Kenya is beginning to see signs of major reductions in the number of people infected with malaria. Studies show us that hospital visits due to malaria are dropping in Kenya’s coastal region by as much as 63 per cent. Such a decline could have a positive effect on tourism — an important part of the coastal region’s revenues.

We are also seeing a reduction in the number of children under the age of five that are dying because of malaria. It is our goal to sustain and build upon these important achievements. The US government’s commitment to fight malaria is a key component of President Obama’s new Global Health Initiative (GHI) — a global commitment to invest in healthy and productive lives.

It is also linked closely with the Government of Kenya’s National Malaria Strategy 2009-2017. We believe that a malaria-free Kenya is possible only if we work together. Join us on this year’s World Malaria Day as we aim to make malaria a thing of the past.

Mr Ranneberger is the US ambassador to Kenya