Government Strengthens Disease Surveillance System

The Kenyan government is significantly reinforcing its disease surveillance and emergency response capacity, reflecting a renewed commitment to national health security. According to KBC Digital, the Ministry of Health has expanded its surveillance infrastructure by deploying disease-surveillance vehicles to all 47 counties, facilitating faster on-the-ground detection and rapid response to public health threats.
A major institutional milestone is the recent launch of the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI). The new institute consolidates functions such as epidemiology, surveillance, diagnostics, and emergency operations into a single, coordinated body—aimed at strengthening outbreak prediction, detection, and response. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said this centralization will help Kenya be more proactive and resilient in the face of public health emergencies.
To enhance laboratory capacity, KEMRI has inaugurated an upgraded molecular surveillance lab, equipped with modern diagnostic platforms for multipathogen testing, including poliovirus, measles, and other emerging pathogens. This facility is expected to reduce turnaround times for pathogen identification, enabling faster confirmation of suspected outbreak cases and improving the country’s readiness to respond.
In addition, the Ministry is working to strengthen community-level disease detection. It has rolled out a digitised, integrated disease surveillance system, coupled with training for surveillance officers and frontline responders.According to the Ministry’s strategic plan, these coordinated reforms—spanning detection, confirmation, and response—are core to building a robust, unified public health ecosystem that can quickly contain future outbreaks.