Kenya becomes the first country to join a five-year global health initiative to reduce the deaths of newborns, as the country looks for solutions to reduce deaths that have not decreased for the last 15 years.
The Healthy Birth Initiative, a KES 11B programme (US$85 million), will work with 12 counties in Kenya that account for more than 50 per cent of Kenya’s annual neonatal deaths.
The project will work in 12 counties: Kakamega, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, Garissa, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kericho and West Pokot. The counties were selected because, according to data from the national health database, they contribute 50 per cent of all neonatal deaths in Kenya.
Dr Patrick Amoth, Kenya’s Director General for Health, said the country’s neonatal mortality rate of 21 deaths per 1,000 live births is at a plateau and that the country has made progress but has not done enough. The country is far from the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the neonatal mortality rate to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births.
“We have made this decision deliberately, we understand the burden we carry, and we need to see how to do things differently to move the needle towards the SDG target,” Dr Amoth said.
Kenya loses about 90 newborns every day, translating to more than 33,000 every year. Dr Amoth said these deaths are preventable and show “a gap in implementation”.
Dr Amoth said: “We know what works, such as quality antenatal care, skilled delivery, timely newborn care and a strong referral system.”
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that babies die due to complications of being born before their time (prematurity), difficulty in breathing, and life-threatening blood infection in infants called sepsis.
The initiative was launched at the ongoing International Maternal and Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC) in Nairobi. The Johns Hopkins affiliate, Jhpiego, is funding the initiative, and the money will complement what the countries are also investing. Deborah Bossemeyer, Senior Vice President of Global Programs and Technical Excellence at Jhpiego, said the initiative is to ensure that what has been proven to work is put into practice.
“Normally, evidence is generated in one place, innovations are tested in another, investments flow elsewhere, and health systems are left connecting the dots,” said Ms Bossemeyer.
At the meeting, Nakuru County announced that it has already set aside US$1.2 million, about KES 155.5 million, for maternal and newborn health. Officials from Nakuru County said the money will go into training health workers to care for these babies and establishing facilities that will act as the county’s testing grounds for innovations to save babies.
“We will ensure that our facilities are equipped with the essential equipment and commodities needed to care for mothers and newborns, especially those who are small and sick,” the statement read.
Paul Nyachae, Jhpiego Kenya’s Country Director, said that there is an urgency for Kenya because there has been a lot of focus on maternal health, giving less attention to newborns.
“For every six mothers that we lose, there are another six newborns, and while focus has been on what the mother needs, we are yet to have the same intensity in what newborns need, such as ICUs in every county,” Mr Nyachae said.
