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Kenya

Country Profile

In 2011, Peace Corps Kenya joined Stomping Out Malaria to address the malaria problem in Kenya and to mobilize volunteers to undertake malaria projects in their communities.

Malaria control is not just a health issue, it is an overall development issue as malaria is a driver of poverty, a debilitating disease that affects millions of Kenyans each year and is unfortunately fatal to many thousands.The toll it exacts must be viewed from the physical, financial and emotional pain it inflicts on individuals and families and also importantly from its macroeconomic impact.

- National Malaria Strategy

Over 77% of Kenyans live in areas where the Plasmodium falciparum parasite is present and estimated 170 million working days are lost to the disease each year. The disease greatly affects maternal and child health with 34,000 children under the age of 5 dying each year.

There are 3 regions in Kenya where Malaria is endemic: Coast, Nyanza and Western Provinces. Currently, there are 3 Peace Corps Stomp/Malaria Support Volunteers in the endemic regions- Coast, Nyanza and Western.

The Malaria Support Volunteers are working with the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Kenya Division of Malaria Control on malaria projects at the community and district levels. Malaria projects undertaken by volunteers support the National Malaria Control Program’s 6 strategic objectives in an effort to realize the vision of a “Malaria-free Kenya”.