A sharp and devastating rise in malaria cases is overwhelming Turkana residents, sparking fears of a public health emergency in one of Kenya’s most vulnerable regions.
Malaria, once rare in this drought-stricken area, the disease is now a threat. The Turkana county department of health is yet to reveal the cause of the upsurge cases. Lack of enough malaria drugs and experienced rains are linked to the upsurge.
Turkana county is faced with a high burden of malaria, because it shares the border with three countries, that’s Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan, resulting in new infections and transmissions due to the movement of pastoralists.
Contain outbreak
As hundreds of children and adults fall ill, health officials are racing against time to contain the outbreak.
According to data seen by the writer from Kenya Health Information System (KHIS) revealed that 212,603 people have tested positive for malaria from January to July.
The data shows in January – 32,020; February – 26,542; March – 15,014; April 12,415, May 50,096, June- 42,695, July – 33,821 people tested positive for malaria in Turkana.
County Executive for Health and Sanitation Long’ole Wang’iros has confirmed the upsurge of malaria cases in Turkana. He said they are set to address the significant upsurge in malaria cases, with a renewed focus on data-driven strategies. Wang’iros said the data from 12 health facilities across Loima, Lokiriama, and Turkana Central Sub-counties are alarming. He said the data had been verified by a team from Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), under the National Ministry of Health.
“The FELTP team, which spent 8 days in the field, were able to disseminate the data. Our decisions should now be firmly based on data, ensuring that our resources are allocated where they are most needed,” he said.
He further noted that on-the-job training on recording keeping was required as the dissemination had revealed discrepancies in the skills among the staff.
