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Three main diseases and aliments affecting Kenyans: 2016 outpatient data




The three main diseases and ailments affecting Kenyas include respiratory diseases, malaria, and skin diseases.
In order, the top 10 diseases based on outpatient data of people aged over five (from the 2016 Statistical Abstract) are:
1.        respiratory diseases (excluding pneumonia and TB)
2.        confirmed malaria
3.        skin diseases including wounds
4.        diarrhoea
5.        arthritis and joint pains
6.        suspected malaria
7.        urinary tract infections
8.        road traffic accidents
9.        pneumonia
10.    hypertension.
In 2016, Kenyans had about 60 million visits to health clinics; of these 15.5 million were children under the age of five and 44 million were older than five years of age.
For people aged over five years, respiratory diseases accounted for 11.2 million visits to outpatient clinics (25%). Confirmed malaria accounted for 3.7 million (8%) of outpatient visits of people over the age of five years, with suspected malaria responsible for 1.5 million visits (3%). Skin diseases accounted for 3.6 million visits (8%), while diarrhoea accounted for 1.5 million (3%), and pneumonia accounted for 889,886 visits (2%) of people over the age of five years.
For children under the age of five years, ear and eye infections, as well as intestinal worms, were among the top 10 conditons leading to outpatient visits. For older Kenyans, arthritis, urinary tract infections, and hypertension were common.
The 2016 Statistical Abstract does not list cancer, which is the third highest cause of death among Kenyans. It is not included because it is rarely diagnosed during outpatient visits.
The 2016 Statistical Abstract also disaggregated data by the 47 counties. For example, in Nairobi the top three ailments were respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and urinary tract infections, whereas in Mombasa the top three ailments were respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and confirmed malaria. In Kisumu the top three ailments were confirmed malaria, respiratory diseases, and suspected malaria.


MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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