Malaria Vaccination Kicks off In Kakamega

Malaria
The World Health Organisation in conjunction with the government has rolled out a malaria vaccination programme in Kakamega County [Photo, Courtesy]
The World Health Organisation in conjunction with the government has rolled out a malaria vaccination programme in Kakamega County.

The County Director of Health Services Dr. Urther  Andere told KNA the vaccination is targeting children aged between six and 24 months.

“The entire vaccine is to be administered in four jabs: at the age of six, seven, nine and finally 24 months,” he stated.

Dr. Andere explained that the exercise started on Monday and will take place in all health centres and hospitals.

The medic observed that Kakamega, Bungoma and counties in Nyanza region have been reported to be prone to endemic malaria.

Malaria
A person holding malaria vaccine [Photo, Courtesy]
He said the disease is among the leading causes of infant mortality in western and Nyanza regions and urged the residents to take their children for vaccination.

According to the 2018 Economic survey by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 17, 553 people succumbed to malaria in the country.

A report by the World Health Organisation says malaria interventions would prevent an additional 2 billion malaria cases and 4 million deaths by 2030 in Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, concerns have been raised on the effectiveness of the interventions.

In a different report released last month, experts noted that most of the approaches being used to tackle malaria were developed in the last century

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