Kenya's Minister for Health Mutahi Kagwe. Photo Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health on Saturday announced that 1,286 people tested positive for COVID-19 from a sample size of 8,310 tested in the last 24 hours.
The positivity rate is 15.5 percent, with total confirmed infections rising to 228,363 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,305,988.
From the cases 1,264 are Kenyans while 22 are foreigners; 661 are females and 625 are males, while the youngest is a two-month-old infant and the oldest is 100 years.
The ministry also said 1,942 patients recovered from the disease with 1,766 from the Home-Based Isolation and Care program while 176 were discharged from various health facilities countrywide. Total recoveries stand at 211,781.
However, 32 patients succumbed to the coronavirus, all of them being late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in April. - CGTN (With input from Ministry of Health-Kenya)
Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Nairobi Veluppillai Kananathan accepting the first consignment of 800,000 syringes at the Nairobi airport. Photo Daily News
In support of the ongoing vigorous vaccination campaign against COVID-19 undertaken in Sri Lanka under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lanka High Commission in Kenya arranged a consignment of an initial order of 2 million syringes from a WHO prequalified company namely, Revital Healthcare(EPZ) Ltd in Kenya to be sent to Sri Lanka.
The AD syringes of 0.5ml specification manufactured by the Revital Healthcare (EPZ) Ltd are considered to be of high quality that complies with WHO standards and conditions.
The Sri Lanka High Commissioner Veluppillai Kananathan in Kenya accepted the first consignment of 800,000 syringes and facilitated its dispatch to Sri Lanka by Sri Lankan Airlines on 13th August. During a brief ceremony held at the Nairobi Airport Roneek Vora, CEO of the Revital Healthcare (EPZ) Ltd in Kenya, thanked High Commissioner Kananathan for expeditiously liaising with the authorities in Kenya for making the urgent dispatch of syringes possible. The remaining syringes will be dispatched next week.
This is the first time that a COVID-19 related essential item produced in Kenya is being sent to Sri Lanka to support the current inoculation drive in Sri Lanka. - Daily News
EAA launches two integrated education and immunisation projects in Africa. Photo Gulf Times
Education Above All Foundation (EAA) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have extended their partnership to launch integrated immunisation projects in Ethiopia and Kenya, supported by Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD).
In conjunction with EAA’s Educate A Child (EAC) programme and its ongoing education project with Save the Children Korea (SCK), the initiative in Ethiopia aims to support the country’s overarching target of 90% immunisation coverage at the national level and at least 80% in each of the 11 targeted districts in the host community and three refugee camps in the Gambella Regional State of Ethiopia. It aims to increase uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination amongst girls aged 14 and child vaccination amongst children under one-year-old, reaching 108,183 children with immunisations and 995 adults, who will receive related training over a period of 12 months.
Meanwhile, the immunisation project in Kenya, which intersects with EAA’s ongoing education project with UNICEF, will be implemented in 16 arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) counties in three zonal areas of Garissa, Kisumu and Lodwar as well as urban informal settlements in Nairobi with high numbers of out of school children. Over the next two years, the project aims to reach 257,400 girls who are both in school and out of school in Kenya.
UNICEF’s immunisation and education projects will work closely together to ensure that communities are mobilised to increase school enrolment and that girls receive the HPV vaccine when they reach 10 years of age. The education project will benefit from the network of community health volunteers and facility-based health workers to advocate for school enrolment, while the immunisation programme in the targeted counties will benefit from the network of schools and teachers to reach communities with messages on cervical cancer and HPV vaccine. Both projects come as an extension of EAA and Gavi’s partnership aimed at supporting health, development and education access in some of the world’s most marginalised communities.
Khalifa Jassim Alal-Kuwari, director general QFFD, said,.“ We are pleased that the recent contribution by Qatar Fund to GAVI has paved the way for a new strategic partnership between our long-lasting strategic partners Education Above All and GAVI. Through this strategic partnership, an integrated immunisation programme will be launched in Nigeria targeting more than 100,000 children and women. Furthermore, we are looking forward to the upcoming signing of projects in both, Ethiopia and Kenya.”
Fahad al-Sulaiti, CEO EAA, said,“We recognise that children are more likely to enrol and remain in education if they are healthy. EAA is committed to working with local communities to advocate for school enrolment and ensure access to quality primary education for the most marginalised. Together, through our existing education project, we will engage local and regional stakeholders to generate a marked improvement in health practices and mobilise resources at a time when they are most needed.”
“When education and health come together, sustainable change happens. We entered into our partnership with EAA last year in order to enhance awareness around health challenges and shape health-seeking behaviours", said Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "Today, with the support of the Qatar Fund For Development, we are launching two integrated education and immunisation projects in Ethiopia and Kenya that will aim to reach over half a million of the most marginalised people over the next two years."
“Children in Ethiopia face a high risk of exposure to polio and cervical cancer, and lack access to essential vaccination support due to Covid-19. Through this immunisation initiative, the project has enormous scope to reach hundreds of thousands of children with life-saving vaccines that will protect them from preventable diseases and thereby improve their chances of regular school attendance and healthy cognitive development,” said Gabriel Taeyoung Jung, CEO of Save the Children Korea.
“Girls in the ASAL counties of Kenya were already among the most disadvantaged children in the country, and they have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, including school closures and reduced uptake of vaccination,” UNICEF representative to Kenya, Maniza Zaman, said. “Every child has the right to an education and to health care. In Kenya, this new partnership will improve learning and immunisation for an additional quarter of a million girls.
The immunisation project will identify children living in the areas where EAC and Save the Children’s education project is being implemented and engage teachers and Parent-Teacher Association members of supported schools. It will address some of the key barriers to vaccination in the region, including lack of immunisation service availability and cold chain equipment; lack of service providers and training; data inconsistency and shortage of reporting; low community awareness; and inadequate support. - Gulf Times
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