Safaricom and its foundations invest in maternal healthcare facilities in Homa Bay County

homa bay county

Safaricom and its two foundations have unveiled new maternal healthcare facilities worth KES 38 million ($358,000) in Homa Bay County, Kenya. The Safaricom Foundation has renovated the Newborn Unit at the county’s referral hospital at a cost of KES 1.3 million, with the aim of increasing the number of babies it can accommodate from 10 to 35.

Meanwhile, Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital opened a new maternal, newborn and child healthcare unit costing KES 36.9 million that was constructed and equipped by M-PESA Foundation under its Uzazi Salama initiative. The Uzazi Salama programme, which began in 2021 and runs for two years, aims to strengthen the capacity of the county to provide quality reproductive health services.

The programme, which is being implemented in partnership with AMREF Health Africa, will focus on providing services to nearly 90,000 women and children under the age of 5 in Ndhiwa and Suba Sub-Counties. M-PESA Foundation is also providing specialist care in remote areas through its telemedicine programme, Daktari Smart, and is constructing a 65-bed maternal unit in Migori County in partnership with Kenya Relief.

The Kenyan government’s most recent statistics, from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, show that the country has a maternal mortality rate of 362 deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than the global target of less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births set out in the Sustainable Development Goal (3). A 2014 Situation Assessment Report by the UNFPA found that 15 out of Kenya’s 47 counties accounted for 98.7% of the country’s maternal deaths, with 583 out of every 100,000 mothers dying in childbirth in Homa Bay County alone.

In Homa Bay County, M-PESA Foundation also has a telemedicine programme known as Daktari Smart that is providing specialist care in remote areas. The Foundation is also constructing a 65-bed maternal unit in Migori County in partnership with Kenya Relief.

Based on the most current government statistics from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the country records 362 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births made. This is above the global target, which according to the Sustainable Development Goal (3), should be less than 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

A Situation Assessment Report done in 2014 by the UNFPA found that 15 out of 47 counties in Kenya accounted for 98.7% of the total maternal deaths in the country with 583 in 100,000 mothers dying every year while giving birth in Homabay alone.

Odipo Riaga2215 Posts

Film Director, Tech and Business Blogger, Chess Player, and Photographer. God is Science.

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