§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid her Department is providing for Kisii, in Western Kenya, in relation to a malaria epidemic. [94390]
§ Clare ShortMy Department gave technical advice to the Government of Kenya following the outbreak of this malaria epidemic. One of our regional health team based in Nairobi joined two Government/donor teams sent to the District to assist the local health authorities in the management of the crisis and helped to co-ordinate inputs from the European Commission, WHO, and UNICEF. DFID also drew up emergency treatment protocols in collaboration with colleagues from the WHO country office which were adopted and used.
DFID has provided around £1.3 million over the last two years for emergency malaria work in Kenya, including one year's supply of the new first-line drug for malaria treatment, Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP). The availability of this drug was a major factor in reducing the impact of the epidemic. We are also helping the Government of Kenya to prepare epidemic preparedness guidelines which should strengthen the response to future outbreaks.