By Rawlings Otini
Kenya has beaten several African countries to emerge second in its preparedness to respond to deliberate or accidental national health threats with the potential to wipe out humanity.
However, the Global Health Security index ranked Kenya at 55 out of 195 in the analysis of global health capabilities on a country by country basis.
The index assesses factors critical to dealing with threats, such as robust health systems, adherence to global norms, and political and security risks, including public confidence in the government.
The index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in the US.
More than 100 researchers spent a year collecting and validating the data.
“Health security is a collective responsibility,” said Beth Cameron, of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. “Countries need to know how prepared they are. And they need to know how prepared their neighbours are. Otherwise we’ll never improve.”
