Lodwar- May 15, 2025 (Public Communications and Media Relations)

Following the listing of Turkana as one of the 12 counties endemic to Kala Azar infection (Ministry of Health), the County Government and the Ministry of Health in partnership with AMREF Health Africa, have validated Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials for sensitizing residents on the deadly infection.

Kala Azar also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), is a parasitic infection transmitted by a bite from an infected female Sand Fly. This infection manifests through affecting the organs around the abdominal region (Liver, Spleen, born marrow), and is dangerous if left untreated.

The purpose of the meeting is to pre-test and validate the Kala Azar Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials using the Social Behavioral Change and Communication (SBCC) as a guiding tool towards reducing the burden.

At the forum, the IEC materials for Kala Azar were pre-tested before being validated by a multi-sectoral team to gauge whether they would be relevant to the residents in Turkana, and whether they address the cultural issues and level of impact.

According to Dr Siget Bosek, Program Officer, Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Ministry of Health (National Public Health Initiative), they have tracked and documented Kala Azar to health information platforms from 2017 to-date.

“It is present in all sub-counties in Turkana and the trend shows an increase in incidences meaning there are new reported cases as well as a few relapses. It has proven to be a significant public health problem in Turkana,” he said.

Dr Bosek added that there are two levels of the pre-testing, the first is with County and Sub-County health management teams. The second level is with CHPs in the communities, the actual healthcare workers who will create awareness, localize the language, track and trace cases in the hard-to-reach areas.

According to the County Coordinator of Neglected Tropical Diseases, James Ekamais, Turkana is second to Wajir County with regards to Kala Azar, and it is therefore important for the community to be enlightened.

“We are here to not only validate the IEC materials, but to also discuss how we influence social behaviour change in a language our residents can understand. For them to easily visualise and identify this infection when it presents to encourage early treatment,” he highlighted.

On the other hand, with regards to Kala Azar in Turkana, AMREF Health Africa has been engaging stakeholders and communities to understand the infection, side effects, drug management, treatment, and overall impact towards eliminating VL thereby providing an overall lasting health changes.

Speaking during the validation meeting, Lucy Achieng, Administrator at AMREF said Turkana was chosen as one of the six counties to pilot the pre-testing of Kala Azar IEC materials because of the high burden of the disease.

“There has also been a challenge of documentation of Kala Azar patients in health facilities due to poor health seeking behaviour in Turkana, Therefore, engaging healthcare workers in Turkana will position the best way to reach the community and detect these cases early and promote prevention,” she stated.

She added that contributed by pastoralism where the infection can be imported from one place to the other, Tukana has become one of the endemic zones and the rate at which the infection is spreading, especially in males between the ages of five and 18 is concerning.

According to the Acting Director of Preventive and Promotive Health Services, Lucas Edete, there is a need for research on vector behavior, as previously the infection manifested in areas with anthills (sand flies habitat), but this has since changed with the infection being spotted in areas without anthills.

The IEC materials are going to be printed for three different targeted groups namely i) detailed posters for Lab technicians, Pharmacists and Clinicians, ii) brochure for the community using a simplified language, and iii) detailed posters for CHPs to identify cases.

The impact of the on-going pre-testing and validation will be measured through the status of awareness over a period of two weeks. The next stage is the roll-out advocacy and reviewing of impact.

The pre-testing and validation results will be shared at the upcoming World Health Assembly scheduled to take place on May 19-27, 2025 in Geneva.

The other partners involved are African Institute for Health & Development (AIHD), Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI).