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Programme targets child, maternal care
What you need to know:
- The ministry together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the Philips Foundation is set on facilitating development of innovative health technology and solutions in the field of maternal, newborn and child health.
- To contribute to improved and more equitable access to quality care for women and children, the two organisations target to develop and scale up innovative, low-cost and locally designed health care devices in the next three years.
- The Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project comes amid reports that although Kenya has managed to reduce deaths of children aged under five from 90 per 1,000 lives in 2003 to 52 in 2014, it still falls short of the just concluded Millennium Development Goal 4 target of 33 by the end of 2015.
The Ministry of Health has launched a programme to help save lives and improve the health of expectant mothers and children.
The ministry together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the Philips Foundation is set on facilitating development of innovative health technology and solutions in the field of maternal, newborn and child health.
To contribute to improved and more equitable access to quality care for women and children, the two organisations target to develop and scale up innovative, low-cost and locally designed health care devices in the next three years.
The Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project comes amid reports that although Kenya has managed to reduce deaths of children aged under five from 90 per 1,000 lives in 2003 to 52 in 2014, it still falls short of the just concluded Millennium Development Goal 4 target of 33 by the end of 2015.
“This cooperation will help catalyse novel health interventions for the benefit of the most vulnerable mothers and children, and contribute to reducing the number of deaths of pregnant women and their newborn babies,” says Unicef in a statement.
Neonatal mortality is also still too high, at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The high rates of maternal, newborn and child mortality rates in Kenya and other developing countries has been blamed on lack of medical equipment and technology to support even the most basic interventions for pregnant women and their newborns, especially in remote areas.
“For a million babies worldwide every year, their day of birth is also their day of death,” said Sharad Sapra, director of the Unicef Global Innovation Centre.
She, however, said that with strengthened health systems and innovative solutions for both mothers and children, the chance for survival can greatly increase.
The project that will explore local expertise of Philips Research Africa in Nairobi to mentor social entrepreneurs and facilitate the transfer of health care technology know-how in Kenya will be financed by Philips Foundation.
“At The Philips Foundation, it is our belief that programmes that combine innovation, partnerships and empowering people will make a lasting and meaningful difference in communities,” said Katy Hartley, head of the Philips Foundation.
