Kenya to expand malaria prevention in Turkana with digital monitoring
PS Muthoni said the government is now preparing for the second phase of SMC in June 2025, which will integrate digital monitoring tools to enhance efficiency and ensure better coordination of malaria prevention efforts.
Kenya is set to expand its malaria prevention efforts in Turkana with a second round of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) in June 2025. This will incorporate digital monitoring through the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) platform to improve tracking and data-driven decision-making.
The initiative follows a successful first phase in 2024, which was introduced after malaria cases in Turkana Central Sub-County surged by more than 65% during the rainy season.
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According to Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni, the National Malaria Control Programme, the County Government of Turkana, Moi University, and Duke University conducted assessments that revealed a sharp increase in malaria infections during wet months.
In response, the government, with support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS), launched the first phase of SMC in June 2024 to protect 38,585 children under five years from malaria.
The campaign was carried out in five cycles, each spaced 28 days apart, ensuring that children received preventive malaria treatment throughout the peak transmission period.
By the final cycle, 40,123 children had been reached, surpassing the initial target. The first cycle recorded 88 percent coverage, with 33,820 children receiving treatment.
The second cycle exceeded the target with 101% coverage, reaching 39,229 children. The third cycle covered 95 percent of the target, with 36,741 children receiving treatment, while the fourth cycle achieved 100 percent coverage, reaching 38,924 children.
The fifth and final cycle recorded the highest performance, reaching 40,123 children, translating to 104 percent coverage.
PS Muthoni said the government is now preparing for the second phase of SMC in June 2025, which will integrate digital monitoring tools to enhance efficiency and ensure better coordination of malaria prevention efforts.
“The success of SMC in Turkana shows the importance of targeted malaria prevention. With the integration of digital tracking, we expect even greater efficiency in the next phase,” she said.
Alongside the SMC initiative, the government has also intensified Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) as a key malaria control strategy.
In 2024, IRS was conducted in Busia and Migori counties with support from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).
The campaign targeted high-transmission areas, ensuring that 423,037 structures were sprayed out of 444,890 eligible structures.
The coverage reached 95.1 percent in Busia and 95.0 percent in Migori, surpassing the World Health Organisation’s recommended threshold of 85 percent for effective IRS interventions.
This effort provided protection to approximately 2 million people and contributed to a 50 percent reduction in malaria incidence in Busia County, where cases dropped from 746 per 1,000 people in 2023 to 358 per 1,000 in 2024.
The PS emphasised that malaria remains a major public health challenge in Kenya, particularly in counties with high transmission rates.
She said the Ministry of Health is committed to strengthening malaria control measures and expanding interventions in the most affected areas.
“Malaria remains a major public health concern, and these interventions are crucial in reducing the disease burden,” Muthoni said.
The Ministry of Health has stated that data collected from both the 2024 and 2025 SMC campaigns in Turkana will be analysed to inform future malaria prevention strategies.
The goal is to enhance the impact of control measures and ensure that high-burden regions receive the necessary support to eliminate malaria as a public health threat.
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