By Aoma Keziah,
Cabinet Secretary for Health Aden Duale, officially launched the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI) in Nairobi, with an aim to strengthen public health systems and respond more effectively to emerging health threats in the country.
“There’s urgent need for robust institutions to ensure early detection and swift response to health threats, founded on transparency, integrity and accountability. I urge all sectors to support KNPHI through its Director General and commended partners such as the World Bank, Africa CDC, Amref and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI), for their technical and financial backing,” stated CS Duale.
The new institute, which has been under development for several years, will serve as a central pillar in the Ministry of Health’s strategy to enhance national health security. KNPHI’s mandate spans a broad range of critical functions, including disease surveillance, public health emergency preparedness and response, laboratory network coordination, research, and the development of a resilient health workforce.
“ There’s also need for a coordinated, science-led approach to public health, especially in the wake of recent global health crisis, The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the gaps in our preparedness. KNPHI is our answer to that wake up call, a homegrown solution for long term resilience,” the health CS continued to say.
The institute is expected to work closely with both county governments and international partners to ensure timely data sharing and evidence-based interventions. In its first phase, KNPHI will prioritize strengthening its early warning systems and modernizing diagnostic laboratories across the country, with a focus on border regions and densely populated urban centers.
“we’ve been consulting very, closely in terms of how we deliver in the management of health and the environment and through KMD, we provide early warning systems, issues of alerts to health, in order to deliver, provide support, especially when we are flooding, when we have droughts.It is the report that comes from the KMD that the public health or the Ministry of Health uses,” remarked PS Environment Festus Ng’eno
The event was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Health, development partners, and representatives from the World Health Organization, who welcomed the initiative as a model for other nations in the region.
“We have seen, through painful experiences, how global health threats, from Ebola to COVID-19 to cholera, can rapidly emerge and challenge the resilience of our health systems. These emergencies taught us that the strength of a country’s health response is directly linked to the strength of its public health institutes. These institutions, are only as effective as the systems, structures, and the people that support them and so it is not enough to respond well, but we must start well by laying a strong foundation grounded in sound governance, clear mandates, adequate financing, and professional autonomy,” explained World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo.
KNPHI’s establishment aligns with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Africa CDC’s strategy to bolster national public health institutes across the continent, with the launch, the institute is expected to begin full operations in the coming months.
