There is a part of Kenya where malaria needs no introduction. No need for Google, no need for statistics: all it takes is a humid evening near Lake Victoria. The mosquito enters the scene, does its usual job, and the rest is all too familiar to families, schools and clinics.

This is Siaya County, one of the most affected in the country. It is here that Haleon Kenya Ltd and Amref Health Kenya have decided to join forces for a promise that is both simple and enormous: to help communities better defend themselves against malaria.

Not with miracles, but with what really makes a difference in Africa: training, prevention, mosquito nets, information in schools, trained operators. In short, the basics. Those that are often lacking, and when they are lacking, the parasite rejoices.

A project that will reach 75,000 people

The alliance aims to involve:

• 200 community health promoters
• 30 health assistants
• 190 teachers
• almost 46,000 students
• and, in total, over 75,000 inhabitants

In a country where 3.4 million new cases and over 11,000 deaths are recorded every year, talking about malaria is not an academic exercise: it is everyday life.

In Siaya, the situation is amplified: tropical climate, stagnant water everywhere, limited access to services. A combination that the Anopheles mosquito appreciates much more than tourists who complain about the coastal humidity.

The strategy: more knowledge, less fever, more mosquito nets

Haleon and Amref get straight to the point:

• community education on malaria and fever
• distribution of treated mosquito nets
• proper fever management (paracetamol as recommended by the WHO)
• training of healthcare workers

No disguised marketing: Panadol is mentioned only as an example of paracetamol, not as an advertisement.

Putting health in more hands, literally

‘We are putting health in more hands,’ said Himanshu Raj, Haleon's head of sub-Saharan Africa.

An elegant way of saying that if institutions cannot reach everywhere, then we must take care of our own villages one piece at a time.

Amref, for its part, points out that the battle against malaria is no longer just a health issue: it is also a climate, social and educational issue. The aim is to reduce cases by 90% by 2030. Ambitious? Yes. Necessary? Also.

Why does it also affect tourists?

Because malaria is like the wind in Malindi: you can't see it, but it's there.

And knowing that the country is working (hard) on prevention and treatment is an important signal for those visiting Kenya.

In Siaya, as elsewhere, the game is played in communities, not in Swiss laboratories.

And every mosquito net hung, every teacher trained, every operator prepared adds a gram of hope to a continent that has been fighting malaria for centuries.