Call for coordinated approach to addressing public health emergencies

Delegates at the inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention in Mombasa on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO

Acting World Health Organization representative to Kenya Neema Kimambo at the inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention in Mombasa on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO

Call for coordinated approach to addressing public health emergencies

BY BRIAN OTIENO @Yobramos4                                Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Kenya's health security is not yet at the point the government wants it to be but at least it is somewhere respectable compared to other African countries.

The Kenya National Public Health Institute said yesterday Kenyan medics are constantly undergoing training so as to be at the level WHO wants them to be.

NPHI chair Paul Kariuki said the country has been training a lot of field epidemiologists from both counties and the national government.

These go back to the counties where the emergencies and outbreaks happen.

“It is an ongoing project. We have a program called Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (K-FELTP), where we train field epidemiologists from all the counties.

“We have trained the third lot now and we are working to see how we can make it a continuous process to make sure we have officers who can be able to detect, report and address public health threats,” Kariuki said.

Speaking during the inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention in Mombasa on Tuesday, Kariuki said one of the biggest challenges in fighting public health emergencies is resources.

He noted channeling the resources towards a common goal in a structured manner helps make the response effective and efficient.

“Previously we faced bureaucracies because we find when you are addressing public threats you need the coordination, let’s say, from the Interior, Defense, Livestock, and other ministries, and sometimes you don’t know who to call where.

“But with one house under NPHI you have one person now coordinating all those stakeholders that have been put together from all those departments and ministries,” he said.

On funding, he said the Sh209 billion US-Kenya health deal will consolidate funding.

Previously the funding was through several NGOs.

“With that kind of funding and unified direction, where the funding is coming through the government, we are addressing that aspect of financing,” Kariuki said.

He said besides the US government, there are other partners who are willing to work with Kenya.

“We are making good progress. We may not be there but we are making good progress,” the NPHI chair said.

Acting World Health Organization representative to Kenya Neema Kimambo said health security is one of the priorities for the organization.

WHO works with the Health ministry and the National Public Health Institute to strengthen capacity on detection, which means ensuring surveillance.

Kenya has done a Joint External Evaluation (JEE), which looks comprehensively at the various areas of implementation of the International Health Regulations, and consequently developed a national action plan for health security which was launched last month.

“This was done to build on the gaps that had been identified from the JEE and various other WHO tools,” Kimambo said.

She however said any action plan or strategy must be well funded.

“These strategies are well aligned and yet they are also costed. So, the challenge usually comes in implementation, to ensure that the government puts in resources, but also all partners align with the core priorities,” the acting WHO representative tom Kenya said.

She said one of the important things is response to emergencies.

“Do we have funding ready to immediately deploy rapid response teams and search responders in a timely manner? These are thing s this country

Kenya and other countries in the region need to have a budget line that can be quickly drawn upon when emergencies occur.

Kimambo said national capacity also needs to be supported by structures that are well replicated at county and subcounty levels.

“These are things that we need to continue to build on so that we have capacities at each level so as to have smooth and aligned response whenever emergencies occur,” Kimambo said.

The convention has been organized by the Kenya National Public Health Institute (NPHI) to address national public health security threats in a harmonized manner.

It brings together policymakers, scientists, public health professionals, security experts, healthcare professionals, industry leaders, and other stakeholders to share knowledge, innovations, and strategies for strengthening health systems and enhancing pandemic preparedness and response.

“In the past, we have witnessed chances where people are responding in a fragmented manner. That necessitated the need to bring people together so that we can chart a way forward through policies and strategies that work towards addressing the national public health threats,” Kariuki said.

This, he said, aims to make not only Kenya safe, but also the region and the world in general.

He said during the pre-Covid-19 and the Covid-19 time, there was a haphazard response to the pandemic with duplication of roles meaning wastage of precious little resources.

This was why the NPHI was formed to bring in unified and timely response and optimum resource utilization.

The idea, he said, is to bring together the national government, counties, partners and other stakeholders to chart a uniform way forward.

Ends...

Instant Analysis:

The inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention is a culmination of many years of work done to build a surveillance system for disease identification and building laboratory systems to detect diseases early. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the co-sponsors.

PIC:

Acting World Health Organization representative to Kenya Neema Kimambo at the inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention in Mombasa on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO

Delegates at the inaugural Kenya Health Security Convention in Mombasa on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO