State earmarks Ksh2.4B to treat tropical diseases

The government has set aside Ksh2.4 billion to help eradicate neglected tropical diseases in the country.

This is in an effort to mitigate the effects of this disease to develop and scale-up Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

Health Principal Secretary, Susan Mochache, says statistics show that 25 million Kenyans are at risk of getting the diseases.

Mochache, however, noted that the government is fully committed to exploring innovative ways to accelerate progress toward ending Neglected Tropical Diseases by the year 2030.

Speaking at a Nairobi hotel during the ongoing Global summit on neglected tropical diseases, Mochache noted that the neglected diseases remain a major focus in the planned roll-out of universal health coverage.

The PS observed that the government is scaling up the mapping of the neglected tropical diseases to allocate sufficient resources to further step up and apply treatment where the cases have been identified.

Health experts have cited poverty as a major factor that has led to many Kenyans failing to access quality and affordable health care services. The global summit is set to end on Wednesday.