By Mary Hearty

In response to the 2023 World Malaria Day (to be celebrated on 25th April) theme, “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate implement”, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for increased investments in domestic financing for malaria interventions in Kenya.

Speaking during a media briefing, Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO Country Representative in Kenya, said despite the tremendous achievements made in the fight against malaria disease and emerging challenges threaten the successes.

For instance, Dr. Diallo mentioned that funds allocated by the Global Fund have been reduced by 10%, compared to the last allocation cycle.

It is noted in the 2022 Malaria Report that the reduction in funding is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises, such as the increasing frequency of infectious diseases like monkeypox, climate events and conflict.

“Total funding in 2021 was estimated at US$ 3.5 billion, a consistent increase from US$ 3.3 billion in 2020 and US$ 3.0 billion in 2019. However, the amount invested in 2021 continues to fall short of the estimated US$ 7.3 billion required globally in 2021,” the report reads.

Moreover, the funding gap between the amount invested and the resources needed has continued to widen significantly, particularly over the past 3 years, increasing from a gap of US$ 2.6 billion in 2019 to US$ 3.5 billion in 2020 and US$ 3.8 billion in 2021.

Also, there is the emergence of invasive malaria mosquitoes such as the Anopheles stephensii vector that was discovered in Marsabit, Moyale and Turkana region.

Dr. Diallo said this mosquito transmits malaria with very high competence, and it thrives in urban habitats, hence the increased risk to urban populations.

The mosquito species was originally native to parts of Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, where it is a major malaria vector in rural and urban areas, WHO notes in the report.

Its invasion in Africa was first detected in 2012 in Djibouti and was implicated in two consecutive malaria outbreaks. Since then, it has continued to spread in the Horn of Africa and has also been detected in Nigeria.

To date, WHO has received reports of An. stephensi detections from over 64 different sites in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

The successes are also threatened by the resistance of malaria parasites to medicines and malaria diagnostics, and of mosquito vectors to Insecticides, among others.

For instance, insecticide resistance data from the Horn of Africa reported to WHO show that An. stephensi has exhibited resistance to pyrethroids, organophosphates and carbamates.

Some of the achievements Dr. Diallo said has been made to control and eliminate malaria in Kenya include the development of malaria Rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) kit by Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

Successful uptake of the first WHO recommended RTS, S malaria vaccine and its roll-out in the high to moderate malaria-endemic regions in western Kenya has led to up to a 32% decrease in malaria hospital admission in the region. Notably, all the interventions reduced malaria burden in the country from 8% in 2015 to 6% in 2020.

In 2021, there was mass distribution of 16 million Mosquito nets, during the COVID-19 pandemic; and Indoor Residual Spraying of houses to kill mosquitoes.

An institution of the ‘Zero Malaria Campaign Coalition’ (2021-22) and the mobilization of joint partnerships to reposition malaria advocacy and communication for malaria elimination was also established.

In addition, the ‘End Malaria Council and Fund’ was established in 2021 to mobilize resources for malaria elimination in Kenya.