Kenya committed to eliminating malaria, Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured of government’s commitment in the fight against malaria.

Speaking in Addis Ababa on Monday, President Kenyatta said Kenya has put in place stringent measures that have seen cases of malaria reduce tremendously.

“Malaria cases have fallen from 38% to 12.5% in May this year,” he said.

“Diagnostic coverage in public health facilities has increased from 54% in 2010 to 91% in 2014. This means that patients get the correct diagnosis and thus the right treatment.”

President Kenyatta pointed out that the use of insecticide-treated bed nets by children under 5 years of age has also increased from 70% in 2010 to 76.9% in 2014, adding that households owning at least an insecticide-treated net have increased from 72% to 76% over the same period.

The Head of State noted that the country is focused on providing essential public services and scaling up efforts to end hunger through agriculture and rural development, bridging the infrastructure gap and boosting financial access to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Promoting gender equity

He highlighted to progress made by the country in ensuring effective public service delivery saying Kenya has a two-tier Government structure and commits at least 15 per cent of the national budget to the counties.

The President added that the country has adopted a strong affirmative action to promote gender equality, empowerment of women, youth and vulnerable groups resulting in gender parity in primary school enrolment.

He added that the admission of girls to secondary and tertiary institutions has also increased significantly.

The president is in Addis Ababa for the 3^rd Conference on Financing for Development.

The event will culminate on the launch of the Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman and Every Child.

Other leaders present at the conference include UN Secretary-General Ban, Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn and AU Commission Chairperson Dlamini Zuma.