Kenya is set to adopt new WHO-backed treatment guidelines for kala-azar, introducing shorter, safer, and more effective regimens that include an oral medicine for the first time in the region.

• The new treatment reduces injections from 34 down to 14 for kala-azar and from 60–90 down to 14 for PKDL.
• The Ministry of Health, Kenya, and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) were key partners in developing and testing these new treatments.
• These revised guidelines aim to benefit patients in 11 kala-azar-endemic counties in Kenya, impacting a disease that is fatal in 95% of untreated cases and disproportionately affects children.