Kenya's battle against malaria is showing worrying signs of weakness, with a new national survey revealing that fewer families are protected by treated mosquito nets, fewer children are receiving the recommended drugs and pregnant women are missing out on essential preventive medication.
The findings expose growing gaps in the country's efforts to control the disease, particularly among groups most vulnerable to its effects, despite government reports showing a decline in malaria cases over the past two years.
The latest Kenya Mini Demographic and Health Survey (KMDHS) indicates that the proportion of households with at least one treated mosquito net has dropped to 41 per cent, marking a sharp fall from 59 per cent recorded in 2014 and 54 per cent in 2022.
The decline raises concerns about the level of protection available to families, given that insecticide-treated nets remain an important measure in preventing mosquito bites and killing mosquitoes that land on them.
The survey has also established that access to appropriate malaria treatment among children experiencing fever has weakened, with fewer young patients receiving the recommended medicines compared to the previous assessment in 2022.
Among children below five years who had fever and were given antimalarial medication, only 74 per cent received artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), compared to 84 per cent in 2022.
ACTs are the recommended medicines for treating uncomplicated malaria, with artemether-lumefantrine emerging as the most frequently reported treatment in the latest survey.
The situation is equally concerning among expectant mothers, with the report showing that uptake of preventive malaria medication during pregnancy remains low.
Only 14 per cent of women nationally received at least three doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), commonly referred to as Fansidar, during their most recent pregnancy.
This marks a decline from the 23 per cent reported in the 2015 Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey, highlighting the challenges facing efforts to ensure pregnant women receive adequate protection against malaria.
The preventive treatment programme covers 15 counties under full implementation and four fringe areas. However, even in these targeted regions, only 41 per cent of women received at least three doses of the medication, falling short of the national target of 80 per cent.
According to the KMDHS report, malaria during pregnancy poses serious health risks, including anaemia in mothers and their unborn children. The infection can also contribute to low birth weight and raise the likelihood of newborn deaths.
Speaking during the release of the findings on Tuesday, Medical Services Principal Secretary Dr Ouma Oluga said the government needed to focus on improving healthcare access and strengthening interventions targeting vulnerable populations.
“I will therefore not so much focus on what the evidence means but look at strengthening access to care, protecting mothers and children, improving financial protection and more importantly targeting our response to what remains a threat to our population particularly communicable diseases,” he said.
Oluga said the government would also address other health challenges, including HIV and public health threats that may not have been covered in the latest survey.
“We are going to be discussing malaria, the issues that are around HIV, the public health threats that we are dealing with that may not be part and parcel of this data that we are consuming today.”
He maintained that the survey should serve as a basis for government decisions and practical interventions rather than simply provide statistics about the state of the country's health sector.
“And we’re here because we are an evidence-based administration that looks at evidence not just for the purposes of show, but for purposes of improving the lives of the people that depend on our actions,” he said.
The PS further said improving healthcare delivery would depend on consistent investment, the successful implementation of planned reforms and the availability of dependable data to guide decisions.
“So achieving this promise requires sustained investment, effective implementation of the reforms and reliable evidence to guide the decisions that we make on a day-to-day basis within the healthcare system.”
The survey findings present a mixed picture of Kenya's malaria control efforts, coming months after the Ministry of Health announced that the country had recorded a reduction in malaria incidence.
In February 2026, the ministry reported that malaria cases had declined from 104 per 1,000 people in 2023 to 72 per 1,000 people in 2025.
Although the latest KMDHS figures do not establish that malaria infections are increasing, they reveal a decline in the preventive and treatment services needed to keep the disease under control.
The figures also raise questions about the country's ability to maintain its progress if access to essential malaria prevention tools and recommended medication continues to weaken.
The survey was compiled by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), following data collection carried out between November 2025 and February 2026.