Kenya

Photo: Malaria endemicity in Turkana area

Most of Kenya is malaria free. However, a number of districts experience low, moderate, and high malaria transmission.

Kenya initiated SMC in 2023 via a pilot project implementing five cycles starting from June in one district, reaching 35 000 children. The pilot project was carried out in the Turkana district, a low to moderate malaria transmission district which experiences strong seasonality of malaria cases. The area hosts two refugee camps. In addition, there are mobile populations in that area that sleep outdoors and need alternative prevention interventions. 75% of malaria cases occurred in children under five years.

Ongoing and planned projects as part of the SMC pilot:

  • There will be an operations research project to guide community-informed delivery models for SMC in remote populations in Turkana.  The project will also qualitatively collect information on how to adapt SMC delivery models to meet the needs of this community.
  • A project has also been planned to quantify the prevalence of P. falciparum malaria in households with children under five years.
  • The National Malaria Programme also designed a project to access hard-to-reach populations.

Advocacy components of the project included community engagement, messaging, and SMC delivery.