By Samwel Doe Ouma
Kenya hosts the 37th International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC) Conference, bringing together over 300 experts to combat the persistent threat of sleeping sickness and other tsetse-transmitted diseases .
The ISCTRC biennial event follows a significant milestone as the World Health Organization (WHO) validated Kenya’s elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) as a public health problem on June 16, 2025.
According to Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, While the elimination of HAT is a major victory, the fight against the broader economic impact of trypanosomiasis continues.
The CS said that the disease affects the livestock sector, causing an estimated annual loss of $143 million in Kenya.
“The government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) aims to free up vast rangelands from the tsetse menace to boost key value chains.”
He said that the objective of 37th ISCTR conference is to promote information sharing on tsetse, human and animal trypanosomiasis problem, review control strategies and recommend appropriate approaches for tsetse and trypanosomiasis research and control
Dr. Huyam Salih, Director of the African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), emphasized the scale of the problem in Africa saying that 50 million cattle are at risk, with three million dying annually.
She observed that the direct losses from reduced production and treatment costs total $1.2 billion annually, while broader economic costs reach $5 billion.
“Despite a sharp drop in human cases from 28,000 in 1999 to 583 in 2024, the disease remains a significant risk.”
Dr. Salih warned that progress is fragile due to several challenges:Fragmented coordination across human, animal, and environmental health sectors.Unsustainable funding dependent on short-term donor projects.Inadequate community engagement and substandard rural infrastructure.Emerging resistance of parasites to drugs and tsetse flies to insecticides.
The conference’s theme, “Harnessing One Health Technologies and Innovations Towards Eliminating Trypanosomiasis in Africa,” highlights the need for an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. This One Health strategy involves fusing human, animal, and environmental data through advanced tools like geospatial mapping and mobile diagnostics.
To facilitate this, AU-IBAR is introducing its upcoming African Union Digital One Health Platform (AU-DOHP), designed to improve data sharing and collaboration.
This is the second consecutive time Kenya has hosted the ISCTRC, reflecting confidence in its leadership in combating trypanosomiasis. The conference, attended by delegates from across Africa and global bodies such as the FAO, WHO, and IAEA, serves as a powerful call to action. The challenge now is to translate scientific discussions into actionable policies to ensure the full eradication of this century-old scourge across the continent.
