Free maternity gets more cash

The government has increased the allocation for free maternity care from Sh3.4 billion to Sh4 billion in an attempt to consolidate the gains made since the programme was started.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the programme had seen the number of mothers delivering their babies in hospitals increase from 44 to 66 per cent, adding that two-thirds of pregnant women were now seeking professional help.

“The programme has achieved what the government had in mind — improved health care for mothers,” he said.

Maternal mortality has dropped by 8.5 per cent, meaning that out of 5,500 mothers who die annually while giving birth, 500  had been saved.

Child mortality, on the other hand, has improved by 15.3 per cent, with 15,000 babies under the age of five who previously died from complications at birth out of 100,000 annual deaths are now born in good health and living beyond their fifth birthday.

Regarded as one of the successful government programmes started by Jubilee, the free maternity initiative has also seen the transmission rate of HIV/Aids from mother to child drop from 14 per cent to 8.5 per cent as more mothers shun home deliveries.

STAFFING CHALLENGES

Mr Macharia said the government hopes to achieve 80 per cent hospital deliveries in the next financial year, explaining why the government had increased the allocation.

However, the programme faces several challenges, including ensuring that new doctors freshly employed by the government and posted to hardship, marginalised areas stay at the hospitals. The incentives  include post-graduate training after two years of service in such remote counties.

such as Turkana or Marsabit, for two years, they would qualify for post graduate programme by government.

“Such initiatives have helped us stem the exodus of doctors from the counties to work in cities such as Nairobi, Kisumu or Mombasa,” he said.

Doctors previously refused to work in the counties, after the government transferred payment of the salaries to the counties, by according to the Health minister, the government had calmed the doctors through additional incentives.

Counties such as Machakos have also experienced hitches, with the Sh56 allocation to the county, having been sent to the wrong account.

Machakos County Governor Dr Alfred Mutua said the county had been forced to use money set for other programmes, because the money sent for the free maternity programme has been lying idle in a government account that had been closed.

“We are calling on the government to release the money so that we can start earmarked hospital expansion programmes for our ICU and maternity wings,” he said.

He said the county has been able to expand maternity wards, meaning no mothers were sharing beds or sleeping on the floor.

Mr Macharia said he was not aware of money being sent to the wrong account and promised to follow up the issue, adding funds were being sent to hospitals directly, because there was no way of ensuring funds sent to counties would be used for the intended purpose.