Kenya

PS Kenya works closely with the Kenyan government and other partners to contribute to the reduction of HIV incidence in Kenya. Behavior change, demand creation and increased condom access have been critical elements of PS Kenya’s HIV programming, which include campaigns that work with those practicing behaviors that put them at high risk for HIV. For example, concurrent sexual partnerships are tackled through the Weka Condom Mpangoni campaign, while condom negotiations among youth are targeted through the Nakufeel campaign. HIV testing and counseling, as well as voluntary medical male circumcision, are also important components of HIV prevention efforts. In addition, PS Kenya has integrated TB and HIV care and treatment services in the private sector through the Tunza Family Health Network, a program that focuses on increasing the capacity of private providers to offer quality HIV services and to track and refer clients.

In support of the global call to increase identification of those who are HIV positive, PS Kenya is rolling out HIV self-testing kits through private sector pharmacies and some private health facilities. HIV self-testing provides those who don’t test through traditional modes with an easy and confidential way to know their status. As part of revitalizing HIV prevention, Kenya has rolled out oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a pill for those who test HIV negative, but are at ongoing risk of HIV infection. The program has already begun enrolling clients for PrEP private sector health facilities.

All of Kenya’s malaria programs support the Ministry of Health’s Malaria Control Unit to achieve its vision for a malaria-free Kenya. PSI Kenya’s malaria program complements the objective of the government’s National Malaria Strategy (2009-2018) to achieve universal coverage of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) through three distribution channels: 1) free routine distribution of ITNs targeting children under one and pregnant women; 2) social marketing of ITNs through community-based operators and rural retail outlets in Nyanza, Western and Coast provinces at a subsidized cost; and 3) mass distribution of ITNs that occurs every three years. 

Non-communicable diseases account for more than 50% of total hospital admissions and over 55% of hospital deaths in Kenya. Major diseases in Kenya include cardiovascular conditions, cancers, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Hypertension has especially increased over the last 20 years and is a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease, as well as the single most important risk factor for heart attack, heart failure, stroke or other complications. In Kenya, 44.5% of adults have raised blood pressure, one of the highest prevalence rates in Africa. AstraZeneca’s Healthy Heart Africa , which PS Kenya works with to integrate hypertension services into its Tunza franchised network of health clinics and its networks of community health workers, is an innovative and sustainable program that aims to improve the lives of hypertensive patients across Africa. In line with the WHO’s “25 by 2025” global monitoring framework for preventing and controlling these diseases, Healthy Heart Africa ultimately aims to reach 10 million hypertensive patients across sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. 

In Kenya, the unmet need for contraception is high: less than half of Kenya’s married couples use modern contraceptive methods. In collaboration with national and county governments, PS Kenya’s reproductive health programming provides access to, creates demand for and improves service delivery of contraception within the context of informed choice, aiming to increase contraceptive use (both long and short-term contraceptive methods) through social marketing, communication campaigns and community interventions. Recognizing the important role that pharmacies, clinics and providers play in sustaining healthcare, programs focus on improving health workers’ knowledge, skills, and motivation for providing quality reproductive health services.

In addition, PS Kenya reaches youth and women of reproductive age through generic sexual and reproductive health campaigns and builds the capacity of pharmacists and Tunza franchise health providers to counsel clients on all contraceptive methods to address barriers to supply.

In Kenya, 74 out of every 1,000 children who are born do not live to 5 years of age due to conditions including pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, incidences of which have increased due to the overuse of antimalarial medicines and the elevated resistance it has caused. Consequently, Kenya’s malaria policy has changed to stipulate that all suspected malaria cases must be diagnosed using either malaria rapid diagnostic tests or microscopy. PS Kenya is working with pharmacies and clinics in the Coast region to create a private sector market for rapid diagnostic tests and supports the Ministry of Health to increase immunization coverage.