Over 90k TB cases recorded in Kenya in 2022 amid concern of undiagnosed cases in rural areas

Kenya recorded 90,841 tuberculosis (TB) cases in 2022, the Ministry of Health said on Monday, a spike from the 77, 854 cases identified in 2021.

Health Principal Secretary Mary Muriuki said TB remains a major public health concern as many cases in rural areas remain undiagnosed.

“Alarming as this figure is, it represents only 68% of the estimated 133,000 TB cases that were likely to emerge that year, leaving 32% undiagnosed and untreated. The emergence of drug-resistant TB cases, totalling 756 in the same period, highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive and coordinated response,” the PS said.

Muriuki was speaking during the launch of the health ministry’s TB Strategic Plan 2023/24- 2027/28, which coincided with the government's introduction of the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) initiative.

PS Muriuki however said they were facing financial constraints, mainly with shrinking external funding.

“The strategic plan, therefore, becomes a vital advocacy tool for resource mobilization across all sectors, including the private sector. It encourages innovative financing to meet the needs of the people, and I call upon all stakeholders to join hands in this endeavour,” she said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2022 globally, 1.25 million of whom were children and adolescents, leading to 1.1 million deaths.

“Kenya, identified among the top 30 high TB and TB & HIV burden countries by the WHO, had an estimated 128,000 people with TB, and 17,000 deaths in 2022,” Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, the UN health agency’s country representative in Kenya said.

He noted that the health ministry’s TB strategic plan aligns with the Global WHO-END TB strategy.

TB is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs. In 2022 it remained the world's second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, after Covid-19.

Globally, efforts to combat TB have saved around 75 million lives since 2000, according to WHO.