Kenya wins accolades for successful deworming

By STANDARD REPORTER

Kenya: Kenya has received global recognition for her successful deworming programme.

A meeting of medical experts and researchers held in France last week during the Soil Transmitted Helminthes (STH) Community Day commended Kenya’s school-based deworming programme as a ‘shining example of the power of partnership across ministries, the public and private sector in fighting worms’.

Speaking at the event, Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said parasitic worms disproportionately affect school-age children, negatively impacting their health and education.

The programme aims at treating five million children each year for at least five years. The announcement comes hot on the heels of Sh10.2 billion in fresh funding to tackle intestinal worm amongg African children.

Spearheaded by the Investment Fund Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the funding will help countries scale up deworming in children, catalyse country demand for treatment and develop new tools to check transmission of worms in children.

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Mr Macharia said the Kenyan programme treated 5.9 million children aged between two and 14 years in its first year, covering 13,000 schools.  

The programme is implemented by the counties through a partnership of the ministries of Health and Education.