Malaria vaccine pilot in Africa one year on: new vaccine could boost Kenya’s malaria...

Oblivious to the auspicious occasion, a bundle of children winced and gasped as they received their vaccinations. But in that moment, as they clung even tighter to their mothers, they became Kenya’s first children to receive the malaria vaccine through a historic pilot introduction programme initiated in Africa one year ago. Today, on this World Malaria Day, about 82 000[1] Kenyan children in pilot areas have received their first dose of the vaccine and are benefiting from the added protection against malaria.

Surviving cervical cancer then taking on a new battle

Five years ago, news that she had cervical cancer shattered Millicent Kagonga’s world. It upended her marriage, she was spurned by family and friends, and lost a child while undergoing treatment she could barely afford. Her agony seemed endless. But months of painful therapy stopped the spread of the cancer and the thirty-year-old mother of two has now taken on a fresh battle: helping patients and survivors of the disease cope better. We bring her story in her own words.

Kenya rolls out landmark malaria vaccine introduction

Homa Bay, Kenya, 13 September 2019 – The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates the Government of Kenya for launching the world’s first malaria vaccine today in Homa Bay County, western Kenya.
The malaria vaccine pilot programme is now fully underway in Africa, as Kenya joins Ghana and Malawi to introduce the landmark vaccine as a tool against a disease that continues to affect millions of children in Africa.

Kenya now eliminates maternal and neonatal tetanus

February 22, 2019

Kenya has attained maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination status, MNTE, following a successful WHO-led validation process in 2018 to confirm the elimination of the disease. The process was preceded by a pre-validation assessment in September 2017 done by the Ministry of Health with the support of WHO and UNICEF.
Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) means a reduction of neonatal tetanus incidence to below one case per 1000 live births per year in every district (county). 

Kenya rolls out Universal Health Coverage


 The WHO call for ‘Leaving no one behind’ and ‘delivering the Triple Billion Together!’ found great resonance in Immaculate Otene’s words. The mother of four who attended the Kenyan launch of the Universal Health Coverage, UHC, programme in Kisumu City recently expressed her gratitude for the newly launched  UHC pilots which she said promised  better health and future for her and her family. 

Horn of Africa countries in a communique to speed up polio eradication

The global polio eradication initiative got new impetus recently as four countries from the Horn of Africa Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) met in Garissa, Kenya, in a show of unity to end the spread of polio in the region. The event  took place on September 15, 2018.
Health ministers and representatives from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan signed a communique under the auspices of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which further reinforced their support and future actions towards this goal.