Kenya announce need for malaria funding

The Kenyan health ministry has announced that it needs seven billion shillings (£57 million) to combat malaria in the country.

Health officials have said that it expects donors to contribute the cash to boost the country's lack of funding.

Hezron Nyangito, permanent secretary for the health ministry, told the Associated Press: "Considering that about 25 million people are at risk of malaria, Kenya requires seven billion shillings annually to effectively control the killer disease."

Figures from the Kenyan health ministry estimate that malaria kills 34,000 children under the age of five in the country and is a threat to more than 25 million across Kenya.

Last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) offered free mosquito nets to people in Africa to tackle malaria, after the Kenyan government announced it almost halved malaria death by using nets.

The WHO has recently announced that the disease could spread to areas previously considered too cold for mosquito's that spread the disease to survive, after cases were found in the Papa New Guinea highlands.