Set up Mpox testing centres at border points

The Ministry of Health has confirmed one case of the dreaded Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, in Kenya.

On a positive note, however, Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni has assured the country that the patient has since recovered after getting treatment at Taveta Sub County Hospital. 

That is not to say we are out of the woods yet. The government must step up vigilance at border entry points, ports and airports to stop the spread of monkeypox.

Kenya’s strategic location as an international transport hub and preferred entry point for landlocked countries in the East and Central Africa region exposes it to all manner of viral diseases.

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The need to set up medical examination centres along the Kenya- Uganda border cannot be overemphasised.

Travelers from DRC, the epicentre of Mpox, can access Kenya through these border points, the more reason the government should establish screening centres and rapid response teams to respond to emergent cases. 

According to data from the African Union Health Agency, Africa CDC, as of August 3, 2024, there were 14,479 confirmed and suspected cases of the strain and 455 deaths in DRC. Mpox, like Ebola has also ravaged DRC many times, is a viral disease. Mpox causes serious rashes and is spread through contact with an infected person. 

In 2022, the World Health Organisation categorised Mpox as a global health emergency. That in effect meant no country was safe from Mpox, and therefore there was a need for a coordinated global response to the disease. 

To be safe, the government should equip Hospitals with testing kits, drugs and vaccines, as well as improve capacity to conduct tests.

When Monkeypox was suspected to have reached Kenya in 2022, samples had to be flown to Senegal for testing. Were the government to show the same seriousness it demonstrated in 2017 by forming an Ebola Preparedness Response team and setting aside Sh350 billion, it will give relief to our health system.