Uasin gishu: The residents and members of the communities across villages in Uasin Gishu County have reportedly embraced behaviour change in the use of drugs across all sectors of human, animal and plant health, a significant success in the fight against Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).
According to Kenya News Agency, the disease is driven by inappropriate behaviors associated with misuse and overuse of antimicrobials. The achievement underscores the key role played by Community Health Promoters (CHPs), who through their tireless efforts have continued to sensitize the residents at the household level across various villages in Uasin Gishu to uphold proper measures pertaining to the use of antibiotics to avert the risks of AMR.
These measures include the correct use of antibiotics, such as only taking them when prescribed by a healthcare provider for a bacterial infection and not substituting them for other uses like treating the common cold, which they are not intended for. Additionally, patients are urged to complete the full prescription even if they start to feel better, as stopping early can allow some bacteria to survive and develop resistance. Sharing antibiotics left over after the treatment of a certain infection is another contrary way of use since what worked for one infection may not work for another and could contribute to resistance.
Other practical habits residents were advised to adopt include practicing good hygiene by washing hands frequently with soap and water, especially after using the bathroom, before eating, and after coughing or sneezing, ensuring food safety, and staying up to date on vaccinations. The Kenya Red Cross AMR Stewardship team welcomes the achievement as a milestone, especially as the country is set to mark the World AMR Awareness Week 2025 from November 18 to 24 with the theme ‘Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future’ to raise awareness and promote action against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The campaign encourages best practices across all sectors, from the public and healthcare workers to policymakers and farmers, to combat the spread of drug-resistant pathogens. One of the success stories is Irene Chepkoech from Aturei village in Kapseret Sub County, who embraced AMR campaign messages communicated by Community Health Promoters (CHPs) during a house-to-house sensitization exercise to educate the community about the danger posed by the global AMR menace.
After being sick for about eight months without any sign of recovery, as she only relied on over-the-counter drugs and traditional medicine to treat an unknown illness, Chepkoech decided to seek treatment from the nearby public health facility as advised by one of the CHPs from the area. ‘I have been sick since January 2025, not really knowing what I am suffering from. After being educated by the CHP AMR team, I went and sought treatment at Kapteldon Sub County Hospital. I was diagnosed and recommended for surgery to get rid of what was troubling me for all that time,’ she explained.
She noted that since then, she learned from her past mistakes and continued taking the prescriptions consistently after surgery, and she is living happily now. She expressed her gratitude to the county AMR team for sensitizing her and has also vowed to educate other residents after realizing they are going through what she had been ailing from for such a long time, posing a threat to her life.
Chepkoech’s neighbours embraced her advice and sought treatment from qualified healthcare providers, receiving help and recovering. The people reported a reduced infection rate at the family level after they observed behaviour change on drug use as per AMR guidelines. ‘One of the grandmothers reported healthy growth after stopping borrowing unused medicine and over-the-counter drugs from neighbours. After she was recommended by the CHPs to go to the hospital, she experienced good improvement in her health after she received treatment from the health facility,’ observed one of the CHPs.
Eunice Tuwei, a resident from Kamosong Village, Uasin Gishu, said she discovered that seeking treatment from a qualified physician at any health facility is a good benefit since one is treated with the right medicine for the right disease, as compared to when one walks by one of the dispensing outlets and buys over-the-counter medicine without any prescription, which is pure guesswork at the expense of one’s health.
‘We were taught to separate knapsack sprayers, one for plants and another for animals. We were urged to pour milk after deworming and resume consuming after 72 hours. We have since seen improvement in both our animal and plant health after we observed the best practices,’ noted Susan Singoei from Kapkenduiywo village.
Mark Cheruiyot, a CHP from Kapteldon Village Tabarin B area, narrated the experience of one of the family members he had visited to sensitize on the AMR threat on animal health. He had informed the family to stop consuming and even selling milk after deworming their cows, but the head of the family was hesitant to trust the CHP. He decided to experiment by feeding the milk from the dewormed cow to a dog, cat, and chicken, which after a short while began to take effect.
The health institutions across the sub-counties have also reported successful steps in curbing Antimicrobial Resistance through robust infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, like ensuring high levels of hygiene, carrying out antimicrobial stewardship programs to educate patients on the proper use of antibiotics while at the same time contributing to surveillance and research efforts.
The development comes over a year after The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) launched a County Antimicrobial Stewardship Inter Agency Committee (CASIC) in June 2024 to implement a two-year project on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in collaboration with Uasin Gishu County. The committee, chaired by the County Commissioner, Department of Health Services, veterinary services, and learning institutions, aims to strengthen the capacities of four East African countries-Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia-to prevent and respond to the growing scourge of AMR.
According to the WHO, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is estimated to be responsible for around 700,000 deaths per year. In 2019, bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths globally and contributed to 4.95 million deaths. It is feared that, unless checked, AMR could potentially cause 10 million deaths by 2050. The statistics by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation indicate that AMR represents a global challenge, and the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Kenya revealed in 2019 that there were 8,500 deaths attributable to AMR and 37,300 deaths associated with AMR.
