Kenya’s Health Security Is Every Companies Business

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Covid19 was a blow for businesses of all sorts, established and those that were starting up. Two years later, companies and businesses are still fighting to stabilize whereas some have completely diminished.


With the avid recurrence of the Covid waves, some companies have been forced to completely change their work model to sustain and try to improve the company’s bottom line. Without a healthy staff and laborers, no level of skill or business plan can succeed. Health security therefore should be a priority for businesses both on an individual level and in general.


The covid 19 pandemic that we faced in the years 2020 and 2021 might not be the last that the world and most importantly our country Kenya is facing. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many emergency health challenges across the globe and has shown that global health security is built on robust, local health security foundations.


Experts in the health industry have therefore called for stronger health systems and accelerated investment in the sector to better handle future pandemics. The medics have proposed that Proactive actions both at the local and continental level be made, to not only save lives but also protect the economy and livelihoods.


The Health Systems


In its Strategic Preparedness, Readiness, and Response plan 2022, the World Health Organization has warned that without swift and coordinated action to strengthen the global architecture for pandemic preparedness and response, backed by the necessary financing, the costs of the next pandemic are likely to exceed those of COVID-19.


Amref Health Africa Group CEO, Dr. Githinji Gitahi says strong disease surveillance systems and building capacity of vaccine manufacturers are crucial to hasten the development and equitable delivery of safe and effective vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics in the event of a future pandemic.


“Africa continues to shoulder the largest burden of endemic diseases in the world. This brings to focus the importance of conversations on the urgent need to address chronic under-investment abound in Africa’s health, to unmask the deeper challenges facing the continent’s health systems – and use this opportunity to call for greater investment in health by African governments,” Dr. Gitahi stated.


There is a need to be vigilant not to lose on the gains made since 2020 in surveillance and public health response capacity for COVID-19, including new technological advancements in diagnostics and genomic surveillance and the strengthening of established networks and partnerships, as authorities reallocate public health resources to other pressing needs.


Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF) CEO Dr. Anastasia Nyalita echoed Dr. Gitahi’s sentiments encouraging more stakeholders to invest in scaling up Africa’s pharmaceutical capacity to provide sustainable access to quality medical products and support the continent’s long-term development goals under the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.


“This collaborative approach could become a rewarding investment for companies, governments, and funders since Africa’s demand for vaccines already makes up about a quarter of global vaccine volume and is expected to increase with the region’s estimated 2.5% annual population growth,” Dr. Nyalita stated.

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