CDC and Kenya Celebrate 30 Years of Public Health Collaboration

CDC and the Kenya Institute of Medical Research (KEMRI) work together to prevent disease and save lives.

Yesterday: Reducing the burden of malaria

In 1979, a medical officer with CDC's Bureau of Tropical Diseases arrived in Nairobi to start a research station with the newly created Kenya Institute of Medical Research (KEMRI). The CDC and KEMRI collaboration focused on malaria prevention, treatment, and control. The collaboration soon developed new partnerships with local and international institutions already in Kenya—the University of Nairobi, Kenyan Ministry of Health, the UK Wellcome Trust Laboratories, US Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the Royal Dutch Tropical Institute.

During the past three decades, CDC and KEMRI have helped reduce the burden of malaria by conducting studies that range from, in the early years, monitoring the malaria parasite's resistance to the widely used antimalarial chloroquine, to today, participating in the clinical trial for the most promising malaria vaccine to date. The two partners have also conducted research to create new knowledge and develop and evaluate interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), artemisinin-containing combination treatment (ACTs), and intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp).

Today: Addressing the country's priority health threats

In 2009, the KEMRI/CDC Research and Public Health Collaboration has more than 80 public and private partners who work together on public health priorities:

• HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs;
• rapid response to disease outbreaks, including cholera, influenza, and viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg, and Rift Valley;
• research in new prevention, diagnostic, and treatment methods for malaria, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and diarrhea; and
• enhanced disease surveillance, health policy development, program implementation, and technical assistance.

The 30th Celebration in Kenya

Kenya Institute of Medical Research (KEMRI), Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR), located outside Kisumu, Kenya. (Courtesy KEMRI)

Celebrations in Nairobi (November 6) and Kisumu (November 7) included scientific presentations, posters, and tours of KEMRI/CDC facilities and activities. Participating in the events were local community members including chiefs and teachers, Atlanta-based and CDC-Kenya staff, Kenya Ministry of Health/KEMRI staff, and partners: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), US National Institutes of Health, UNICEF, CDC Foundation, U.S. Embassy, U.S. Agency for International Development, and others.