Turkana County has unveiled Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaign that targets up to 39, 000 children between 3 and 59 months in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps, as part of the strategy for malaria prevention among the host and refugee populations in the area.
The campaign, jointly led by the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and Turkana County Malaria Program, is supported by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).
Launching the programme, Deputy Governor (DG) Dr. John Erus said that the campaign would further boost efforts towards controlling the disease, whose burden has been recorded to reach up to 7000 caseloads every month for Kakuma refugee camp and the Kalobeyei settlement and host communities.
“Let’s get it clear: Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention initial application in Turkana Central recorded up to 71 percent efficacy. With that, we hope that the heavy burden of 7000 cases per week reported in facilities within the two camps and through these preventive interventions, malaria cases have decreased significantly as was the case in Turkana Central,” said Dr. Erus.
While calling on parents and guardians to allow the children take up the medication to be administered in phases during periods of high malaria infection, the DG emphasised that the drug being administered was safe, just like all the medications that have benefitted from scientific scrutiny.
Additionally, Dr. Erus clarified that the SMC was being implemented alongside distribution of treated mosquito nets, Intermittent Preventive Malaria Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp), continued vector surveillance, the rollout of spatial repellent and strengthened case management.
He further added that Turkana was ready to share data of success realized from the program, since it was the leading county in SMC implementation in Kenya.
In his address during the launch, the county chief officer for medical services, Dr. Gilchrist Lokoel cited data indicating that Turkana was among the top ten high-burden counties in terms of malaria prevalence, further urging the community to take part in the process.
“As we continue working with the National Malaria Control Program and key partners in the process, we call upon the public to do everything possible to prevent malaria. Use the nets you have been given, seek medical attention when sick and allow the healthcare workers to administer the SMC to our children,” he said.
The launch was attended and addressed by the National Malaria Control Program coordinator Dr. Kibor Keitany, alongside the representatives of CRS, the Kenya Red Cross and UNHCR.
Turkana is one of the malaria high-burden counties in Kenya, with a 39 percent prevalence against the six percent, which is the national average prevalence. Current data indicates that the incidence stands at 483 per 1000 population, with more than 50 percent coming from Turkana West.
As a prevention strategy that works by administration of a combination of drugs such as prophylaxis, the campaign will be running four cycles spread over three months, when vulnerability to malaria infection is highest due to the short rainy season from August to December.
By Peter Gitonga
