Section 1 of Public Health Act CAP 242: Short title

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “adult” means a person of eighteen years of age or over; “approved” and “prescribed” means respectively approved or prescribed by the Minister or...

(1) There shall be established a Central Board of Health (hereinafter referred to as the board), having its seat at Nairobi, which shall consist of the Director of Medical Services (who shall be...

The names of all members appointed to the board shall be forthwith notified in the Gazette and any number of the Gazette containing a notice of any such appointment shall be deemed sufficient evidence...

The Minister shall, as soon as possible, fill up vacancies occurring in the board, but the board shall continue to exercise its powers as long as there shall remain on the board at least five members...

If any member of the board is at any time prevented by absence or other cause from acting, the Minister may appoint some other person to replace such member until he returns or is able to resume his...

The Minister may make rules as to the convening and holding meetings of the board, the quorum thereof, the procedure thereat, allowances payable to members thereof and the circumstances in which any...

The board may appoint committees, whether of its own members or otherwise, to carry out general or specific functions as may be specified by the board and may delegate to any such committee such of...

(1) There shall be established a district health management board in each district which shall be charged with responsibility of overseeing the running of Government health institutions in that...

The functions of the board shall be to advise the Minister upon all matters affecting the public health, and particularly upon all matters mentioned in subsection (2) of section 10.

(1) There shall from time to time be appointed a Director of Medical Services, a Deputy Director of Medical Services, assistant directors of medical services, medical officers of health, assistant...

(1) There shall be a department, to be known as the Medical Department, which shall be under the control of the Director of Medical Services. (2) The functions of the Medical Department shall be,...

The Minister may, on the advice of the board or of the Medical Department, cause to be made such inquiries as he may see fit in relation to any matters concerning the public health in any place.

When an inquiry is directed to be made by the Minister, the person directed to make the same shall have free access to all books, plans, maps, documents and other things relevant to the inquiry, and...

It shall be the duty of every health authority to take all lawful, necessary and, under its special circumstances, reasonably practicable measures for preventing the occurrence or dealing with any...

(1) Whenever complaint is made to the board that the public health in any locality is endangered by the failure or refusal on the part of any municipal council to exercise its powers or perform the...

The Minister for the time being responsible for Local Government shall, before approving any by-law made by a municipal council affecting public health, obtain the agreement of the Minister for the...

(1) Except as is specially provided in this Act, the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in substitution for any provisions of any other Act which are not in conflict...

(1) The provisions of this Act, unless otherwise expressed, shall, so far as they concern notifiable infectious diseases, apply to smallpox, plague, cholera, scarlatina or scarlet fever, typhus fever,...

(1) Where an inmate of any building used for human habitation is suffering from any notifiable infectious disease, unless such building is a hospital in which persons suffering from any notifiable...

The health authority shall pay to every medical practitioner, other than a Government medical officer, for each certificate duly sent by him in accordance with this Act a fee of four shillings if the...

A notice or certificate to be sent to a medical officer of health in pursuance of this Act may be sent by being delivered to the officer or being left at his office or residence, or may be sent by...

A medical officer of health may at any time enter and inspect any premises in which he has reason to believe that any person suffering or who has recently suffered from any infectious disease is or...

(1) Where any medical officer of health is of opinion that the cleansing and disinfecting of any building or part thereof, and of any articles therein likely to retain infection, would tend to prevent...

Any health authority may direct the destruction of any building, bedding, clothing or other articles which have been exposed to infection from any infectious disease, or in the opinion of the medical...

Any health authority may provide a proper place, with all necessary apparatus and attendance, for the disinfection of bedding, clothing or other articles which have become infected, and may cause any...

Any health authority may provide and maintain a carriage or carriages suitable for the conveyance of persons suffering from any infectious disease, and may pay the expenses of conveying therein any...

Where, in the opinion of the medical officer of health, any person certified by a medical practitioner to be suffering from an infectious disease is not accommodated or is not being treated or nursed...

Where, in the opinion of the medical officer of health, any person has recently been exposed to the infection, and may be in the incubation stage, of any notifiable infectious disease and is not...

Any person who— (a) while suffering from any infectious disease, wilfully exposes himself without proper precautions against spreading the said disease in any street, public place, shop, inn or...

Every owner or driver of a conveyance shall immediately provide for the disinfection of such conveyance after it has to his knowledge conveyed any person suffering from an infectious disease; and if...

(1) Any person who knowingly lets for hire any dwelling or premises or part thereof in which any person has been suffering from an infectious disease without having the same and all articles therein...

Any person letting for hire or showing for the purpose of letting for hire any dwelling or premises or part thereof who, on being questioned by any person negotiating for the hire of such house as to...

(1) Any municipal council with the sanction of the board may provide for the use of the inhabitants of its area hospitals or temporary places for the reception of the sick, and for that purpose may—...

Any expenses incurred by a municipal council in maintaining in a hospital, or in a temporary place for the reception of the sick (whether or not belonging to such hospital), a patient who is not a...

Any municipal council may, with the sanction of the board, themselves provide or contract with any person to provide a temporary supply of medicine and medical assistance for the poorer inhabitants of...

The provisions of this Act, unless otherwise expressed, in so far as they concern formidable epidemic, endemic or infectious disease, shall be deemed to apply to smallpox, plague, Asiatic cholera,...

Whenever any part of Kenya appears to be threatened by any formidable epidemic, endemic or infectious disease, the Minister may make rules for all or any of the following purposes, namely— (a) the...

The health authority of any area within which or part of which any rules made under section 36 of this Act are in force shall do and provide all such acts, matters and things as may be necessary for...

The Director of Medical Services and his officers shall have power of entry on any premises or vessels for the purpose of executing or superintending the execution of any rules made under section 36...

(1) Every person who becomes aware of any unusual sickness or mortality among rats, mice, cats, dogs or other animals susceptible to plague or other formidable epidemic diseases not due to poison or...

Every medical officer of health shall immediately report to the Director of Medical Services by telegraph or other expeditious means particulars of every notification received by such medical officer...

(1) Where an outbreak of any formidable epidemic disease exists or is threatened, it shall be lawful for the Director of Medical Services to require any person owning or having charge of any land or...

The provisions of this Act, unless otherwise expressed, in so far as they concern venereal diseases, shall be deemed to apply to syphilis, gonorrhoea, gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, soft chancre, venereal...

(1) Every person who knows or has reason to believe that he is suffering from any venereal disease shall forthwith consult a medical practitioner with respect thereto, and shall place himself under...

Every medical practitioner who attends or advises any patient in respect of any venereal disease from which the patient is suffering shall— (a) direct the attention of the patient to the infectious...

(1) Every parent or guardian of a child who knows or has reason to believe that such child is suffering from any venereal disease shall cause such child to be treated for such disease by a medical...

(1) Every person who, while suffering from any venereal disease in a communicable form, accepts or continues in employment in or about any factory, shop, hotel, restaurant, house or other place in any...

(1) It shall be the duty of every medical officer of health in his official capacity and of every Government medical officer and district surgeon who knows or has reason to believe that any person is...

Every person who wilfully or by culpable negligence infects any other person with venereal disease or does or permits or suffers any act likely to lead to the infection of any other person with any...

(1) Where any person sentenced to imprisonment under this Act or any other law is suffering from a venereal disease in a communicable form, he may, by order of the magistrate, be removed to a special...