- Triumph about sleeping sickness Scourge sees Kenya at Benin, Chad, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda when eradicating the disease.
- Since 2009, health authorities in Kenya have not reported indigenous new cases of sleeping sickness.
- Sleeping sickness, which only occurs in Africa, is caused by TryPanosoma Brucei Rhodesiense (R-HAT) and often progresses quickly and attacks several organs in the human body, including the brain.
Kenya is declared free of sleeping sickness and is a member of 10 other countries in Africa who have received a similar certification from the World Health Organization (WHO).
In an update, the director -general of the UN health agency in Kenya praised in Kenya for eliminating human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), popularly known as sleeping sickness, an infection that only prevails in Africa.
The performance comes seven years after Kenya has received a similar certification from the WHO for efforts to eliminate the prevalence of Guinea worm disorders.
“I congratulate the government and people of Kenya on this milestone performance,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general. “Kenya joins the growing ranks of countries that free their population from human African trypanosomiasis. This is a new step in the direction of making Africa free of neglected tropical diseases.”
According to WHO, sleeping sickness is an infection caused by blood parasite trypanosoma brucei. For people to get the disease, the parasite brings the disease about those elements caused by Tset air bites, who often wear the infection of other people or animals.
Who runs the most risk of sleeping sickness?
Very often, communities that live in the countryside and largely dependent on agriculture, in particular keeping animals or fish, most in danger.
According to the WHO, sleeping sickness occurs in two variants – Gambiense and Rhodesiense. The latter is most common in countries in the east of and the southern part of the African continent.
The Rhodesise variant is the one who was present in Kenya.
Sleeping sickness is caused by TryPanosoma Brucei Rhodesiense (R-HAT) and often progresses quickly, with several organs being attacked in the human body, including the brain. Without treatment it is fatal within a few weeks.
“This validation marks an important milestone for public health for Kenya, while we celebrate the elimination of a deadly disease in our country. The performance will not only protect our people, but also paving the road for renewed economic growth and prosperity,” Dr. Aden Daale, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health. “This follows many years of dedication, hard work and cooperation”.
The first cases of sleeping sickness in Kenya were detected in the early 1900s. Since then, the authorities have introduced measures in the country to help and control things in most risky zones.
At present, the health statistics in Kenya show that health care authorities have not reported indigenous new things for more than 10 years now. In Kenya the last native Dutch case was reported in 2009, while the last two exported cases, infected in the Masai Mara National Reserve, were detected in 2012.
In recent years, Kenya has taken measures to strategically control the occurrence of sleeping sickness in 12 health facilities in six historical endemical provinces to act as sentry locations.
According to the Ministry of Health, these monitoring centers were equipped with diagnostic aids and their clinical staff had trained on diagnostic procedures, including the most sensitive and practical tests for R-HAT.
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Control and supervision of Tsetse Vliegen
In addition, the country also actively monitors control and supervision of TSETS -Vliegen and animal trypanosomiasis, both inside and outside the historic hat -endemic areas, supported by the National Veterinary Health Authorities and the Kenya Tshepanosomiasis Eradication Council (Kentec).
These measures and the associated data offer additional support for the claim of elimination as a problem of public health.
“This important milestone reflects the efforts and deployment of Kenya for many years, as a collaboration between national and provincial authorities, national research institutions, development partners and affected communities,” Dr. Patrick Amoth, EBS, director General Health, Ministry of Health, Kenya.
He added: “The country remains fully dedicated to maintain the quality of care and surveillance in accordance with the recommendations of Wie”.
Supported by WHO and partners such as Find, Keny’s Hat Elimination Program has launched a post-validation surveillance plan to check for any revival or re-introduction of transmission.
This continuous monitoring maintains in previously affected regions and protects a medicine stock for rapid treatment of possible cases, supported by donors Bayer AG and Sanofi.
“This success was made possible by the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the dedication of health workers in risk areas and the support of important partners,” said Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, representative of Kenya. “Who is proud that he has contributed to this performance and encourages all stakeholders to remain involved in monitoring after validation”.
Progress in global hat -elimination
A total of 57 countries eliminated at least one NTD. Of these, 10 (including Kenya) have successfully eliminated the hat as a problem of public health. The other countries that have reached this milestone are Benin, Chad, Ivory Coast, Equatorial -Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.
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