Tsetse fly, which carries the Trypanosoma parasite that infects humans with HAT.
Kenya will now implement a post-validation surveillance plan
to ensure early detection of any new cases of Human African Trypanosomiasis
(Sleeping Sickness).
This was said by the Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale after Kenya was validated by the World Health Organization as having eliminated Human African Trypanosomiasis
as a public health concern.
Human African Trypanosomiasis commonly known as sleeping
sickness is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted to humans through
the bite of an infected tsetse fly (Trypanosoma bruceloi rhodesiense).
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, congratulated
Kenya on the milestone as he warned that delisting from the public health
concern status does not mean total eradication of the disease.
He said: “I congratulate the government and people of Kenya
on this landmark achievement. Kenya joins the growing ranks of countries
freeing their populations of human African trypanosomiasis. This is another
step towards making Africa free of neglected tropical diseases.”
“However, eliminating a disease as a public health concern does
not mean the disease is completely eradicated. It only means that the infections
after a certain period are below the threshold of a public health concern. In
that case, a few cases may still occur and need to be well monitored and
treated before they get out of hand,” he added.
Speaking during the summit, the Health CS Aden Duale reiterated that it was now time to impose strong surveillance to
combat any cases that might arise.
He said: “We must now double down on sustained surveillance
and early detection. We must do strong community education and engagement. We
must invest in vector control and animal treatment, and above all, we must have
a full integration of HAT services into our routine public health delivery
system.”
“This moment aligns directly with the Ministry of Health
broader agenda on emergency preparedness and response. The same infrastructure
that helped us eliminate HAT is what we must now scale up to prepare for the
next threat, be it a disease outbreak, a cross-border health crisi, or the next
pandemic,” he added.
He further said that Kenya is actively engaged in global
deliberations on the pandemic treaty and will not shy away from taking very
bold steps to safeguard the people. According to the CS, we have done it before
and we will do it again, with courage, science and with partnership.
“Kenya is investing heavily in our National Public Health
Institute, which will anchor our surveillance, epidemic intelligence and rapid
response capacity. We will be linking disease detection at the community level with
our national and global systems. But preparedness must begin where the people
are, and that is why primary health care remains our foundation as a country,”
he noted.