Kenya

Located in eastern Africa, Kenya is bordered by the Indian Ocean, Somalia and Tanzania. More than 51 million people live in Kenya, but population estimates factor in the impact of excess mortality due to AIDS. This can lead to lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates and lower population growth. Life expectancy at birth in 2018 was 64 and 69 for males and females respectively, a significant improvement on 2012 numbers.

Health challenges

According to the World Health Organization, the health challenges facing Kenya include:

  • a maternal mortality rate of 342 deaths per 100,000 live births (2017).
  • communicable diseases, including diarrhoea, hepatitis A, malaria, dengue fever and typhoid.
  • HIV and AIDS. In 2018, 1.6 million Kenyans were living with HIV. The prevalence rate among adults (aged 15 – 49) was 4.7 per cent.
  • an estimated 169,000 Kenyans live with tuberculosis, though more than half of those cases are undiagnosed and untreated.

Kenya recorded its first case of COVID-19 on March 13 2020. By June 9, 2862 cases of COVID-19 had been recorded in Kenya, leading to 85 deaths.

Contact Details

For more information about our work in Kenya, please contact:

Mary-Ann Nicholas

Head, Project Management Office; Co-Head, Strategy Insights and Impact; Head, Development Effectiveness

Telephone

+61392822213

Email

mary-ann.nicholas@burnet.edu.au



Current Projects

  • A GIFT (Genital Inflammation Test) for HIV Prevention

  • Cost-effectiveness of antenatal corticosteroids for women at risk of imminent preterm birth in the early preterm period in low resource countries

  • Evaluating the WHO Labour Care Guide in clinical settings

  • Major advances in understanding malaria immunity and biology

  • Optima HIV Modelling

  • Rapid review of maternal health recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • The WHO ACTION-III Trial: antenatal corticosteroids for improving outcomes in preterm newborns