Photo credit: Paul J. Brown Photography
Healthy Cities for Healthy Brains: Implementation of a Lead Exposure Intervention Program in Nairobi
Mission:
Increase awareness of lead exposure and build a foundation for sustained efforts to reduce pediatric lead exposure; adapt experience gained in the U.S. to create a child blood lead level screening and “healthy home” lead prevention program for a Sub-Saharan African city context.
About us:
Pediatric lead poisoning is a major global health concern. The vast majority of affected children live in low- and middle-income countries, where programs to identify children at-risk of lead exposure and intervene are lacking. LEIP (Healthy Cities for Healthy Brains: Implementation of a Lead Exposure Intervention Program in Nairobi) conducts research in Nairobi, Kenya with the goal of developing a foundational lead exposure screening and follow-up program. LEIP adapts testing and messaging for a Sub-Saharan African context and evaluates their effectiveness in an urban setting. The work is informed by US- and Kenyan-based experts collaborating to implement the program in routine childcare and provide insight to inform success in future iterations in other countries.
LEIP is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS): R01ES036010.