• Home
  • Our Work
  • Our Courses
  • Updates & Events
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • How We Work
    • The Team
  • Talk to Us
Innovate, Replicate, Implement
+254 20 6993000
[email protected]
Amref Health AfricaAmref Health Africa
    • Home
    • Our Work
    • Our Courses
    • Updates & Events
    • About Us
      • Who We Are
      • How We Work
      • The Team
    • Talk to Us

    ICD News & Blogs

    M-PESA Foundation partners with Amref Health Africa to promote maternal health in Homabay County!

    • Date December 2, 2021

    Uzazi Salama is a two-year program that aims to promote access to quality health services in Homabay County, targeting about 86, 469 women and children under 5 years in Ndhiwa and Suba Sub-Counties.

    Homa Bay, 26th November 2021… Close to 90, 000 women of reproductive age and children under 5 years are set to benefit from a KES 150 million project that seeks to improve access to quality maternal health services in Homabay County.

    Uzazi Salama project, a partnership between M-PESA Foundation, PharmAccess Africa, Amref Health Africa, Action Aid, Pathfinder international and Homabay County Government, 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, new-born, child and adolescent health indicators. These are attributed to poor access and/or 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, launched at the Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital today, has also been tried and tested in Samburu County since 2015.

    “Every mother and new-born 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,” said Les Baille, Executive Director, M-PESA Foundation.

    Speaking during the launch, Homabay Governor H.E. Hon Cyprian Awiti acknowledged the challenges facing the County and efforts in place to mitigate them.

    “As a County, it is unfortunate that we are still battling teenage pregnancies, an issue that has been flagged as a risk especially during childbirth because biologically, their bodies are not ready to welcome a child. It is through such partnerships with Safaricom and AMREF Health Africa that we aim to not only educate on safe sex and childbirth, but also to reduce maternal and child deaths. I look forward to Homabay being a success story, like Samburu County,” he said.

    According to Dr George Kimathi, Director, Institute of Capacity Development, Amref Health Africa, some of the notable success of Uzazi Salama in Samburu County has been a 22 percent increase in health facility deliveries; 9 percent increase in immunization and 6 percent increase in the first Antenatal clinic visit. “These can be attributed to increased community education, capacity strengthening of health workers, as well as upgrading of health facilities to provide quality Maternal and Neonatal Health services. Additionally, over 500 community health workers have been trained on safe delivery methods and over 200,000 residents benefitting from the project,” said Dr Kimathi.

    Uzazi Salama is the second maternal health initiative the M-PESA Foundation is launching in Homabay County today. The foundation in partnership with Gertrude’s Children Hospital will later launch the regional Daktari Smart telemedicine program, at the Suba Sub-County Hospital, that is part of a larger telemedicine initiative that targets over 32,000 children in Homabay, Samburu, Baringo and Lamu Counties.

    ENDS

    For more news, please visit: https://www.safaricom.co.ke/about/media-center/publications/press-release

    For media-ready photos, visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/safaricom_pr

    For further information, please contact

    Safaricom PR & Corporate Communications

    Phone: +254 722 005211

    [email protected]

    Click here to access the press release.

    • Share:
    Amref ICD

    Previous post

    Building the COVID-19 Health Workforce in Africa through Online Learning
    December 2, 2021

    Next post

    Accolades to the Graduands of the LMG-HSS Courses!
    February 23, 2022

    You may also like

    Cover image
    Accolades to the Graduands of the LMG-HSS Courses!
    23 February, 2022
    HW attending to a patient
    Building the COVID-19 Health Workforce in Africa through Online Learning
    17 September, 2021
    amref-health-africa-midwives-tanzania
    Come Exchange Knowledge with us at ECSACON 2021!
    7 September, 2021

    Search

    Recent Posts

    • Accolades to the Graduands of the LMG-HSS Courses!
    • M-PESA Foundation partners with Amref Health Africa to promote maternal health in Homabay County!
    • Building the COVID-19 Health Workforce in Africa through Online Learning
    • Come Exchange Knowledge with us at ECSACON 2021!
    • The Partnership for Health Systems Strengthening in Africa (PHSSA) – Programme Overview

    Categories

    • ICD News & Blogs (23)

    Contact Us

    +254 20 6993000

    [email protected]

    Langata Road opposite Wilson Airport, Nairobi

    In Brief

    The African continent faces human resources for health (HRH) challenges including shortages, capacity and retention of health workers. That’s a challenge the Institute of Capacity Development has taken up by rolling out interventions to resolve HRH pain points.

    Useful Links

    Updates & Events

    Courses

    Amref Health Africa

    Copyright © 2020 | Amref Health Africa

    • Home
    • Privacy Policy

    Close the Gap Today

    Develop the capacity of individuals, institutions and health systems to address the gap in human resources for health through innovative approaches.

    Talk to Us