The MPESA Foundation in partnership with AMREF Health Africa have launched a Ksh. 150 million project to improve access to quality maternal health services in Homabay County. The project, titled Uzazi Salama, is expected to 90,000 women of reproductive age and children under 5 years.
The Uzazi Salama project is also supported by PharmAccess Africa, Action Aid, Pathfinder international and Homabay County government. The project will strengthen the county’s health systems to support the delivery of quality reproductive, maternal, new-born, child and adolescent healthcare.
Homabay is one of 15 counties in Kenya with poor reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health indicators. These are attributed to poor access and low-quality health services, social-economic and cultural behaviours and unavailability of medical equipment to support optimal maternal health. Maternal deaths in the county stand at 583 per 100,000 live births and 119 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Uzazi Salama is the second maternal health initiative the MPESA Foundation is launching in Homabay County. The foundation in partnership with Gertrude’s Children Hospital will later launch the regional Daktari Smart telemedicine program, at the Suba Sub-County Hospital, which is part of a larger telemedicine initiative that targets over 32,000 children in Homabay, Samburu, Baringo and Lamu Counties.
Speaking at the launch, Les Baille, Executive Director MPESA Foundation, “Every mother and newborn child deserve an equal chance of survival during the childbirth process. We believe that through Uzazi Salama, we will increase demand for hospital-based deliveries and greatly improve the quality of life for mothers and their babies as we have witnessed in Samburu County.”