The number of children under five who die of malnutrition, inadequate healthcare and poor sanitation is unnecessarily high, an international organisation has said.
The Rotary International, Mombasa North Coast branch, on Thursday said they will this year invest more to reduce the deaths.
Newly elected president Justus Aungo said he will focus on maternal care and child health during his one-year tenure.
“More than 80 percent of maternal deaths can be prevented with access to reproductive health services and trained health care workers,” Aungo said.
“It’s very disgusting to continue losing mothers and children, yet we want to have a productive society.”
He said the health of a society is the key to a productive economy.
Aungo spoke during his installation as the new president of the Mombasa North Coast Rotary Club at Maasai Resort in Mombasa.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 830 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Ninety-nine per cent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries, where nearly half of all mothers and newborns do not receive care during and after birth.
The leading causes of death for children under five are birth complications, pneumonia, birth asphyxia, diarrhoea and malaria, according to WHO.
“These deaths can be prevented and treated with access to healthcare services,” Aungo said.
Aungo takes over from Samuel Mambo. Mambo’s focus was on basic education and literacy during his year-long tenure. He is an educationist.
Under him, the club introduced the school feeding programme, digital literacy and school fee plans for needy students at Barani Primary School in Kilifi county.
“Although I have passed the baton to someone else, the club should not forget what it has been doing for years and this means focus on disability issues affecting children and adults in Bamba, Kilifi,” the outgoing president said.
Assistant Governor Pauline Gachihi, who is in charge of Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale rotary clubs, called for more people to join the organisation.
She said the club’s milestone in community service is commendable and insisted that paying back to the community cannot be underrated.
