Republished Bh Horn Africa News
By Brian Kabenah Mwaniki
Source: Gavi Org
The century-old BCG vaccine works in children, but isn’t very protective in adults and adolescents. The world needs a new vaccine – and Kenya is taking its place on the frontlines of science.
As Kenya continues to take heavy losses in its battle against tuberculosis (TB), the country is also taking up a place on the frontlines of the search for a new game-changing shield against the age-old bacterium.
I lost my cousin to TB last year. He was strong, then suddenly he wasn’t. When I heard they were looking for volunteers, I decided to help. If this works, we could save thousands.
- Peter Otieno, TB vaccine trial participant, Nairobi
Kenya joined the multination Phase 2b IMAGINE clinical trial in February 2025. The study aims at evaluating a potential improvement to the century-old Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) jab, which works well in children, but is less effective in adults and adolescents.
Dr Jane Nduta, a lead investigator at Centre for Respiratory Disease Research (CRDR) in Nairobi, which is locally co-leading trial with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), explained, “This trial isn’t just about updating BCG. It’s about rewriting the rules of TB prevention. We’re testing immune responses and safety rigorously, using the highest scientific standards. The goal is long-lasting, stronger immunity.”
The trial spans 15 sites across Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. Researchers hope the new vaccine – a BCG booster – will offer better protection against pulmonary TB in adults and adolescents, groups for whom the original BCG vaccine has shown limited long-term efficacy.
Age-old killer
An updated preventive arsenal is overdue. Despite decades of using the BCG vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Kenya lost an average of 14 people every day to TB in 2023. That year alone, Kenya reported 97,126 new and relapse cases of tuberculosis (TB) – a 7.2% increase from 2022. And even those figures may represent an undercount of as much as 26%, based on the global health organisation’s estimates.
TB also places a significant strain on Kenya’s already overburdened health system. Nationally, about 25% of TB patients are co-infected with HIV – a high-risk group that numbers in the tens of thousands and is especially difficult to treat and cure. The pressure is particularly acute in western counties such as Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, and Busia, regions that consistently report the highest TB–HIV co-infection rates in the country – often exceeding 40–50% – and elevated rates of multidrug-resistant TB (up to 6%).
Poverty, undernutrition, overcrowded housing and smoking – which weakens the lung’s natural defences – help drive the high rates of TB. Stigma and misinformation also contribute to delays in seeking care, particularly in rural and informal urban settlements.
Battle-plan.
A new vaccine is not the only iron in the fire. Kenya has launched several ambitious interventions under its 2024–2028 National Strategic Plan for TB, Leprosy and Lung Health control, including scaling up digital diagnostics, targeting drug-resistant TB and integrating services for TB and HIV.
