Kenya hails drop in child mortality rate

A Kenyan government official has welcomed a recent decline in the country's child mortality rate.

According to health secretary James Macharia, 64 per cent of under-fives in Kenya were immunised against communicable diseases ten years ago, Capital News reports.

However, he said this has since risen to 82 per cent, with the result that many lives have been saved.

Mr Macharia confirmed that the Kenyan government is now looking to build on this success by boosting the availability of new vaccines even further.

"We are surging forward to introduce the rotavirus vaccine in July this year to fight diarrhoea, which contributes to child mortality," he commented.

The health secretary went on to note that Kenya has become a leader in Africa when it comes to driving down the child mortality rate.

Nevertheless, he said county governments could do more to support the national administration's efforts to ensure under-fives receive the vaccinations they require.