The disease has strongly been linked to HIV/ Aids. According to the National Aids and STI Control Programme (NASCOP), about 1.5 million Kenyans are HIV positive, with more than two-thirds on ARV treatment.
The number of new infections in Kenya has almost halved over the last decade to 80,000 a year, NASCOP states. The setback in funding comes as President Uhuru Kenyatta pleaded Kenya’s case in healthcare support during a round of events in London on the sidelines of the Commonwealth meeting in April.
Meanwhile, the United States government has also threatened further budget cuts to Kenya’s largest medical research agency the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), over apparent lack of financial accountability.
US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec noted that several programmes had failed to account for up to Sh 300 million meant for research purposes. Without revealing the exact amount that the US is looking to slash from KEMRI’s budget, Godec insisted that the US had zero tolerance for mismanagement of funds.
“If things do not change, there will be bigger consequences; we will cut back on funding to more programmes until what we have given is accounted for,” he said. In 2015, the US government froze direct funding to Kemri and put it under investigation after a budget of more than Sh 7.2 billion was depleted prematurely, threatening the success of key research projects.
In May 2017, the US government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) froze its funding of key Ministry of Health programmes. The indefinite suspension of funding was linked to wastage and theft of funds at Afya House instead of ensuring healthcare spending reaches those in need, and protecting the US taxpayers’ money.
Meanwhile, Pharma company Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) has pledged about Sh 24 billion in research and development on top of existing funding that includes work to implement the world’s first malaria vaccine, due to be piloted in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi later this year. GSK’s new intervention is expected to reach more than 3 million people worldwide, with reasons for malaria’s resurgence in some countries varying.
“The East African countries have had a distinct challenge because of the El Niño phenomenon – they have had flooding every year now for several years. There has also been an increase across all countries in temperature attributed to climate change” Joy Phumaphi, executive secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance noted.
…deaths from malaria rose 9.7 per cent to 17,553… …the United States government has also threatened further budget cuts to Kenya’s largest medical research agency… 14 June – July 2018 June –
