Kenya COVID Malaria Testing WEB
Metadata
- Kenya COVID Malaria Testing WEB
- February 28, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Kenya-Covid Malaria Testing (TV) HEADLINE: Rapid Testing for Malaria and COVID Set to Roll Out in Kenya TEASER: Mass availability of test kits expected to be game changer in Kenya’s health campaign PUBLISHED AT: 02/28/2022 at 8:45am BYLINE: Brenda Mulinya CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Nairobi, Kenya VIDEOGRAPHER: Amos Wangwa PRODUCER: Amos Wanga SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, Bowman VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 2:58 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Kenya has ramped up its efforts to control the twin challenges of the coronavirus and malaria by introducing locally made testing kits for the two diseases. Kenya's Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) says the kits offer quicker detection and will soon be exported to the region. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.]] ((NARRATOR)) Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI, have been working steadily since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to come up with locally produced testing kits to help the country fight both coronavirus transmission and the endemic malaria disease. That journey has now borne fruit as Kenya becomes the first country in the region to produce testing kits that are designed with local conditions in mind, for both diseases. ((Francis Kimani, Kemri Malaria Specialist ((in English, 26 secs)) “We have a kit that is stable in such an environment. It is accurate and being a locally produced product that will be cheap, something that will not require a lot of skill to use for a community health worker somewhere in the western county, can open that pouch and do the test in very simple and a quick way.” ((NARRATOR)) Each year in Kenya, malaria causes about 3.5 million infections and 10,700 fatalities, making it among the leading causes of death in the country. The spread of COVID-19 placed an additional burden on the health care system – a situation made worse by the lack of testing kits and vaccines compared to developed countries. The invention of low-cost, early detection testing kits for both COVID-19 and malaria will be a game changer for Kenya and Africa, says medical expert Dr. Willis Akhwale. ((Dr. Willis Akhwale, Senior Advisor for African Leaders Malaria Alliance ((in English, 20 seconds)) “Diagnosis of any disease is the entry point towards prevention and cure, if you are not able to diagnose a disease, you will first not know even what disease it is and will not know what measures to put in and will not know at what point of control or elimination that you have reached” ((NARRATOR)) The KEMRI inventions will now help the country and the region get better results, say KEMRI team members. ((Kelvin Thiongo, Research Scientist KemCov-19 Team (in English 25 secs)) “We will then employ this kit to test whether you have COVID or not. You as the patient we will give you a negative or a positive reaction, but the doctor, we will give them a much more detailed one, for example we will be able to tell the physician how much of the virus there is, is it too much, too low, are you in the shedding phases , are you in the beginning stages so that that can also inform the treatment they give you.” ((NARRATOR)) The KEMRI COVID and malaria rapid test kits will save Kenya money – an estimated 32 million dollars (3.6 billion Kenyan shillings) alone for malaria kits that would otherwise have been imported. The money saved will be redirected to other health intervention programs, says Kenya’s health ministry, as the country seeks to export this technology to other countries in the continent. Brenda Mulinya, for VOA News, Nairobi))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date February 28, 2022 09:34 EST
- Description English FOR USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Kenya-Covid Malaria Testing (TV) HEADLINE: Rapid Testing for Malaria and COVID Set to Roll Out in Kenya TEASER: Mass availability of test kits expected to be game changer in Kenya’s health campaign PUBLISHED AT: 02/28/2022 at 8:45am BYLINE: Brenda Mulinya CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Nairobi, Kenya VIDEOGRAPHER: Amos Wangwa PRODUCER: Amos Wanga SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, Bowman VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 2:58 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Kenya has ramped up its efforts to control the twin challenges of the coronavirus and malaria by introducing locally made testing kits for the two diseases. Kenya's Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) says the kits offer quicker detection and will soon be exported to the region. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.]] ((NARRATOR)) Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI, have been working steadily since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to come up with locally produced testing kits to help the country fight both coronavirus transmission and the endemic malaria disease. That journey has now borne fruit as Kenya becomes the first country in the region to produce testing kits that are designed with local conditions in mind, for both diseases. ((Francis Kimani, Kemri Malaria Specialist ((in English, 26 secs)) “We have a kit that is stable in such an environment. It is accurate and being a locally produced product that will be cheap, something that will not require a lot of skill to use for a community health worker somewhere in the western county, can open that pouch and do the test in very simple and a quick way.” ((NARRATOR)) Each year in Kenya, malaria causes about 3.5 million infections and 10,700 fatalities, making it among the leading causes of death in the country. The spread of COVID-19 placed an additional burden on the health care system – a situation made worse by the lack of testing kits and vaccines compared to developed countries. The invention of low-cost, early detection testing kits for both COVID-19 and malaria will be a game changer for Kenya and Africa, says medical expert Dr. Willis Akhwale. ((Dr. Willis Akhwale, Senior Advisor for African Leaders Malaria Alliance ((in English, 20 seconds)) “Diagnosis of any disease is the entry point towards prevention and cure, if you are not able to diagnose a disease, you will first not know even what disease it is and will not know what measures to put in and will not know at what point of control or elimination that you have reached” ((NARRATOR)) The KEMRI inventions will now help the country and the region get better results, say KEMRI team members. ((Kelvin Thiongo, Research Scientist KemCov-19 Team (in English 25 secs)) “We will then employ this kit to test whether you have COVID or not. You as the patient we will give you a negative or a positive reaction, but the doctor, we will give them a much more detailed one, for example we will be able to tell the physician how much of the virus there is, is it too much, too low, are you in the shedding phases , are you in the beginning stages so that that can also inform the treatment they give you.” ((NARRATOR)) The KEMRI COVID and malaria rapid test kits will save Kenya money – an estimated 32 million dollars (3.6 billion Kenyan shillings) alone for malaria kits that would otherwise have been imported. The money saved will be redirected to other health intervention programs, says Kenya’s health ministry, as the country seeks to export this technology to other countries in the continent. Brenda Mulinya, for VOA News, Nairobi))
- Byline Brenda Mulinya
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America