Improving the surveillance of paediatric malaria in Kenya & Uganda

With the onset of a rapidly changing malaria risk pattern in many parts of Kenya it has become important to establish reliable information on the changes in the epidemiology of disease presenting to health facilities and hospitals. Routine data are inadequate to describe a changing clinical epidemiology, subject as they are to vagaries of incomplete data and poor diagnostics. Prospective hospital and clinic surveillance systems using simplified screening tools, universal parasitological investigations and modern information transfer technology are required. These will be established at various sites across Kenya in collaboration with national research partners between 2010 and 2015. Similar surveillance opportunities exist with established collaborations in Uganda and will be used to add externality to Kenya-specific observations.