APPROXIMATELY HALF OF the world’s population is at risk of Malaria. In Kenya, 52 out of every 1000 children born do not live to the age of five years (KDHS 2014) with Malaria placing more than 70% of the population at risk. Malaria transmission and infection risk in Kenya is determined largely by altitude, rainfall patterns and temperature. Therefore, Malaria prevalence varies considerably by season and across geographic regions. The national Malaria prevalence rate stands at 8% (KMIS 2015), with an estimated 70% of Kenyans being at risk of Malaria.
Population Services Kenya through the Health Communication and Marketing program (HCM), supported by the United States Agency for International Development/President’s Malaria Initiative (USAID/PMI), assisted the Government of Kenya, through the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), to implement the objectives of the Kenya Malaria Strategy 2009-2018 (Revised 2014). Key strategies included provision of long-lasting insecticidal nets through MCH clinics and mass distribution and implementation of community SBCC activities.
For effective oversight, linkages and malaria program implementation, a fully functional system including motivated staff at both national and county level are a necessary ingredient. To improve the capacity of the Kenya government, that is, the Ministry of Health at both national and county level to facilitate malaria control interventions, PS Kenya provided technical support to the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) through participation in technical working groups, including case management, vector control and operational research. This resulted in improved malaria program management.
PS Kenya played a leading role in partnership with the Ministry of Health in behavior change communication to bridge the gap between net ownership and net use. PS Kenya utilized innovative evidence-based behavior change communication techniques to address barriers to net use. These included both mass media and interpersonal communication (IPC) to ensure a “surround and engage” approach. IPC channels included both one-on-one household visits and small group sessions where communities are gathered.
Results from national representative surveys (KMIS 2010, Malaria TRaC 2014 and KMIS 2015) show that our efforts achieved results. For instance, use of ITN was higher among children under-five years of age (under-fives) and pregnant women in HHs that had access to an ITN as compared to the general HHs. For HHs with access to at least one net of any type, a higher proportion of under-fives (79%) slept under any net in 2015, compared with 73% in 2014 and 71% in 2010. The same trend was observed in pregnant women use of ITNs in HHs that had access to at least one ITN which increased from 73% in 2010, 77% in 2014 and 82% in 2015.
Goal: was to increase the use of quality assured mRDTs to improve fever treatment PS Kenya implemented this in private health facilities and pharmacies in the Coast region by focusing its interventions in Sales and BCC, Quality Assurance and Policy.
To increase availability of quality assured RDTs, the pilot procured and sold/distributed 500,000 RDTs to private providers and pharmacies over the life of the project.
To increase demand, a two- pronged communication campaign targeting consumers and providers was implemented resulting into a 15.4% increase in the proportion of caregivers who could cite a private provider source of RDTs (from 10% at baseline to 25.4% at midline) and 73.6% of private providers-initiated malaria driven testing with 30.4% testing with RDTs (Client Exit Survey,2015).
For effective oversight, linkages and malaria program implementation, a fully functional system including motivated staff at both national and county level are a necessary ingredient. To improve the capacity of the Kenya government, that is, the Ministry of Health at both national and county level to facilitate malaria control interventions, PS Kenya provided technical support to the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) through participation in technical working groups, including case management, vector control and operational research. This resulted in improved malaria program management.
