The United States has donated over $31 million to advance Kenya's efforts to set up a digital superhighway to enable a holistic view of healthcare delivery.
This was announced following a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and William Ruto, who is on a state visit to the US.
The US has worked closely with the Ministry of Health to build and deploy digital health solutions to support disease programs and improve the ability to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.
This includes $4 million (approximately Sh531.7 million) through USAID Power Africa's Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance.
The amount is aimed at supporting solar power solutions for health facilities and activities to strengthen community and facility information systems to improve patient care and expand access to emergency medical services for mothers and newborns.
Additionally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) program focuses on facilitating the use of data science to impact health outcomes in Africa and supports a data hub and training and educational development programs in Kenya.
At the same time, the Presidents discussed issues to reduce the impact of Malaria.
They acknowledged that through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), the US contributed $33.5 million in 2023 to fight malaria in Kenya, providing vital financial and technical assistance.
Biden noted that the US supports resilient health systems to deliver care by training health workers, strengthening supply chains, improving data monitoring, and reinforcing national health policies and guidelines.
These investments have contributed to a 50 per cent reduction in malaria prevalence over the last decade.
Biden added that in support of Kenya's localisation goals, PMI is expanding its procurement of pharmaceutical supplies from Kenyan manufacturers.
It intends to procure up to an additional five million malaria treatments and 475,000 preventive treatment doses from Kenyan producers in 2024.
Additionally, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is investing in Kenya's private sector by making a $10 million (approximately Sh1.3 billion) direct loan to Hewa Tele company.
The Kenyan company provides an affordable and regular supply of medical oxygen to healthcare facilities in Africa.
The US also made two rounds of equity investment totalling $4 million (approximately Sh531.6 million) to Kasha Global, a Kenya-based e-commerce company that provides personal care, health care, and beauty products to low-income women in Kenya and Rwanda.
During the meeting, Kenya and the US recommitted to their long-standing partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the CDC and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).
This is to support Kenya's Applied Science Hub, building on 45 years of research partnership on malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, vaccine-preventable diseases, maternal and child health, emerging infectious diseases, and COVID-19.
The research in the Applied Sciences Hub aims to expand surveillance, answer critical public health questions, and introduce novel diagnostic methods, including advanced molecular and serology-based methods, and training in public health laboratory core competencies.
In 2024, the US provided an estimated $12.9 million to support research efforts by KEMRI through the CDC, the NIH, and the Department of Defense.
In FY 2023, NIH supported over 250 grants to US organizations that collaborated with Kenyan organizations, covering a wide range of relevant biomedical research topics, and approximately 90 of these collaborations include researchers at KEMRI.
