The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Kenya as having eliminated human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness as a public health problem, making it the tenth country to reach this milestone.
- •The first cases of HAT in Kenya were detected in the early 20 century.
- •Since then, Kenya has engaged in consistent control activities, without indigenous new cases reported for over 10 years.
- •HAT is the second neglected tropical disease (NTD) to be eliminated in Kenya: the country was certified free of Guinea worm disease in 2018.
“Kenya joins the growing ranks of countries freeing their populations of human African trypanosomiasis. This is another step towards making Africa free of neglected tropical diseases,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said.
A total of 57 countries have eliminated at least one NTD. Of these, 10 (including Kenya) have successfully eliminated sleeping sickness as a public health problem. The other countries that have reached this milestone are Benin, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.
The last indigenous case in Kenya was detected in 2009, and the last two exported cases, infected in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, were detected in 2012.
