Kenya

CHAMPS in Kenya

About our Work

In Kenya, our work is conducted in a densely populated urban settlement in Kisumu and in a rural area of Siaya County, both in Western Kenya. We utilize two local health care facilities: Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and Kisumu East District Hospital.

 

CHAMPS data have already begun to inform national healthcare actions through identification of programmatic gaps and formulation of high-priority research questions related to both local and global policy.

Fast Facts

Kisumu

Catchment Area

72,000

Population Under Surveillance

79/1,000

Under-5 Mortality Rate

54/1,000

Infant Mortality Rate

39/1,000

Neonatal Mortality Rate

495/100,000

Maternal Mortality Rate

Meet the Directors

Dr. Dickens Onyango

County Director of Health, Kisumu County Department of Health and Sanitation, CHAMPS Kenya, Site Director

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Dr. Dickens Onyango

County Director of Health, Kisumu County Department of Health and Sanitation, CHAMPS Kenya

Dr. Onyango is a medical doctor with 13 years of experience working in the public health sector in Kenya. He has served in clinical positions engaged in direct patient care and as a senior epidemiologist. He has been involved in outbreak investigation, public health surveillance, and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various health programs. In his current position as the technical lead in the County Department of Health, he works closely with CDC Kenya to implement various surveillance initiatives, including CHAMPS.

At the national level, he has been part of the leadership that developed the One Health strategy. Within the county, he has designed and implemented operational research studies and has authored and co-authored a number of scientific publications.

Dr. Victor Akelo

Senior Director of the Science, Site Strategy and Implementation Unit, CHAMPS Kenya Site Director, CHAMPS Program Office

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Dr. Victor Akelo

Senior Director of the Science, Site Strategy and Implementation Unit, CHAMPS Kenya Site Director

Dr. Victor Akelo is a public health expert with over 15 years of experience in clinical and public health practice in infectious disease and maternal and child health. He has a wide range of experience in designing, planning and implementation of disease outbreak, surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation of global health programs – both implementation and clinical trials programs. He has served previously as a Principal Research Officer and Chief of HIV Research Branch with Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Kisumu leading various NIH clinical trials. As a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Senior Public Health Advisor, he supports population-based surveillance work such as Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS), mortality and pregnancy surveillance in western Kenya. He previously served as a CDC COVID-19 response lead in western Kenya – specifically working with a team of CDC scientists to provide technical support to counties in western Kenya and remains a member of Kenya CDC COVID-19 Response team. Dr. Victor is a U.S. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Fellow, and Emory Global Health Foege Fellow. He holds a Master’s in Public Health and medical degree from Emory University and Nairobi University respectively.

 

Learn more about our work in Kenya

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Key Partners in Kenya

Kenya Medical Research Institute CDC Kenya The Henry Jackson Foundation (HJF) Ministry of Health
CHAMPS Kenya

News & Stories

Webinars

May 27, 2022

Transforming Data to Action: A Webinar with the CHAMPS Kenya Site Team

CHAMPS Kenya Site Directors, Dr. Victor Akelo and Dr. Dickens Onyango, are joined in this presentation by members of the Kenya Site team, Janet Agaya, Bob Awino, Elizabeth Oele, and Maureen Rapondi. The panel presents an overview of the Kenya Site’s activities and shares how they have used CHAMPS data to implement projects that improve (…)

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Scientific Publications

January 6, 2022

Causes of death in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children aged under-five years in western Kenya

This is a cross-sectional analysis of causes of death ascertained through minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) in the Kenya Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance site. We included decedents aged 28 days to less than 5 years, whose death was reported within 36 h, underwent MITS, and had HIV test results and causes of death determined. (…)

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Case Studies

June 30, 2021

Three new CHAMPS case studies from Ethiopia and Kenya

CHAMPS published three new case studies today offering insights into how we transform data into action and work with partners to address under-five mortality: Malnutrition, A Major Health Challenge in Kersa, Ethiopia: Opportunities for Action from the CHAMPS network Catalyzing Data-to-Action in Western Kenya: A Case Study from the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (…)

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News

October 30, 2018

Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) releases initial data to advance understanding of the causes of death in children under the age of five in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

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