World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Kenya as having eliminated Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), commonly known as sleeping sickness, as a public health threat.

The announcement marks a historic milestone in the country’s long battle with the deadly disease.

This landmark achievement follows a comprehensive review of Kenya’s national dossier and reflects the nation’s capacity to defeat neglected tropical diseases through strong policy, decisive leadership, scientific excellence and community-driven action.

Speaking during the National HAT Elimination Celebration, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said that since the first recorded case of the disease in 1901 and the first documented diagnosis in Samia in western Kenya in 1942, HAT has plagued communities in Busia, Bungoma, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori and Narok counties, putting more than seven million people at risk.

“Since  2009, no indigenous cases have been reported and this was achieved through a comprehensive national strategy in terms of surveillance, establishment of sentinel and referral facilities, strengthening laboratory capacity for diagnosis and also training of  health workers for early detection as well as coordinating with the livestock and wildlife sector on tsetse and parasite control

The ministry of health formally submitted its HAT elimination dossier to WHO in 2023 and on June 16, 2025, Kenya received official validation from WHO following a rigorous external expert review.

“This milestone is a testament to our capacity to eliminate neglected tropical diseases through policy leadership, technical excellence and community-driven action.

As we celebrate the success, the government remains committed to sustaining elimination status, expanding surveillance and strengthening integrated disease control across all levels of the health system,” Duale said.

However, the cabinet secretary noted that elimination is not eradication, thus the country has to now double down on sustained surveillance and early detection, invest in vector control and animal trypanosomiasis and have a full integration of HAT services into the country’s routine public health delivery system.

Duale added that Kenya is investing heavily in the National Public Health Institute (NHPI), which will anchor surveillance, epidemic intelligence and rapid response capacity.

“We will be linking disease detection at the community level with our national and global systems,” he noted.

Duale said that Kenya’s experience will now serve as a model for other countries pursuing the elimination of HAT and similar diseases.

WHO Kenya representative, Dr Adiele Onyenze, representing the Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said what was once considered a death sentence has become a deleted threat.

“Kenya becomes the 10th nation globally and fifth in Africa to achieve this milestone, joining other countries that include Benin, Chad, Uganda and also Rwanda, in this exclusive fellowship of triumph,” he said.

Onyenze further noted that this again is Kenya’s second victory over Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) following the 2018 certification of the country as being Guinea worm-free.

When sleeping sickness first emerged in Kenya in the early 1900s, it arrived as a mystery wrapped in fear. Many sleeping sickness patients, bitten by the tsetse fly, a very small fly, less than a fingernail, carry the parasite that steals people’s consciousness.

Families watch their loved ones sleep slowly and gradually into coma, and many of them actually died, he explained

The cabinet secretary added that Kenya’s achievement advances the African agenda and accelerates the NTD roadmap and Kenya’s masterplan, demonstrating to the world that Africa, with Kenya leading, does not just participate in global health but actually leads it.

“Today’s celebration actually belongs to the government for its commitment, to the health workers who carried hope into the most remote villages, often working for hours to reach a single patient, and dedication, which made this elimination possible, and also to research institutions for the innovation that turned this tide against this ancient disease,” Onyenze said.

However, the WHO representative warned that complacency is the enemy of elimination and therefore this success demands real continuous vigilance and that Kenya should therefore strengthen its surveillance systems, maintain its response capacity and intensify regional collaboration.

“Kenya’s achievement illuminates what becomes possible when science meets determination, when government meets community and when Africa leads. 

You haven’t just eliminated a disease; you’ve eliminated doubt about what African nations can accomplish. This victory belongs not just to Kenya but to all who believe that health equity is achievable,” the WHO DG said in the statement.

On her part,  the Country Director AMREF Kenya, Ndirangu Wanjuki said,  “This is a huge milestone to eliminate neglected tropical diseases and AMREF, as well as all  other implementing partners are privileged and deeply inspired to join the ministry of health and livestock in marking and celebrating this milestone.

“This important achievement gives us immense hope, showing that it is possible to relieve the suffering of the most vulnerable in our society by eliminating NTDs that affect them. We dedicate progress made to the communities that still suffer from other NTDs, and the one thing we must do is to commit to walk that journey by having the right strategies, but also providing resources,” Dr. Ndirangu said, urging development agencies to invest in elimination of NTDs

In her testimony, Mama Jacinta Serenya, said she started ailing in 2009 and after many years of going to various hospitals, she finally got the treatment she deserved through the National Sleeping Sickness Referral Hospital (NSSRH) at Alupe, Busia. She is now fully recovered.

Supported by WHO and partners including the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Kenya’s HAT elimination programme will now implement a post-validation surveillance plan to detect any potential resurgence or reintroduction of transmission.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Wangari Ndirangu