The U.S. Government announced today that it will support the Government of Kenya’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through an additional $500,000 investment. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will implement the response in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Health and County Governments.  Today’s announcement brings total U.S. assistance for Kenya’s response to COVID-19 to $1 million.

“The U.S. Government is committed to working hand-in-hand with the government and the people of Kenya to respond, treat, and recover from this pandemic. The U.S. Government has worked with Kenyans for the last 55 years to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV, TB and malaria,” stated Kyle McCarter, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya.

USAID’s Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program is using funding from the USAID emergency reserve funding to train a pool of national and county trainers as well as 700 health workers, lab technicians, and other front-line workers in 33 counties in Kenya. The training is to prepare these workers to handle suspected and confirmed cases. Training includes best practices in infection prevention and control, and proper use of personal protective equipment. Health workers learn how to limit human-to-human infections both between patients and from patient to health care worker.

Starting this week, USAID will support county-level train the trainer sessions in Kitui, Kajiado, and Kwale counties. While training health workers is the main goal, USAID’s MTaPS will support risk communication for both health workers and the Kenyan public.  Today’s funding announcement builds upon decades of U.S. government leadership as the world's most generous provider of bilateral assistance in global health.  Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously made available more than $100 billion dollars in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally.  This has helped position its partners to provide their citizens with life-saving support during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The U.S. Government’s leadership also includes its generous contribution to multilateral partners, including:  

• $1.7 billion to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in 2019 to support uniquely vulnerable people during this COVID-19 pandemic.
• $700 million to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2019 to support life-saving activities such as immunization campaigns and health and sanitation training and assistance.

Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19. The U.S. Government will continue to stand with Kenya during this pandemic and for many years to come.