BY FRED OOKO AND DESMOND TIRO
MIGORI, Kenya (AP) — As the coffin bearing the body of Rosebella Awuor was lowered into the grave, heart-wrenching sobs from mourners filled the air. Her sister Winnie Akinyi, the guardian to Awuor’s orphaned son, fell to the ground, wailing.
It was the latest of five deaths in this family attributed to malaria. The disease is common in Kenya, and it is preventable and curable, but poverty makes it deadly for those who can’t afford treatment.
In the family’s compound in the western county of Migori, three other graves are visible, that of Awuor’s husband and their other two children who died from malaria before the age of 2.
Awuor, 31, fell ill in December and lost her five-month pregnancy before succumbing to malaria. Her 11-year-old son is the family’s only survivor.
Malaria is still a significant public health challenge in Kenya, though some
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