One in every 37 pregnant women in Kenya dies due to complications while giving birth, data from the Ministry of Health shows.
This means that 362 out of 100,000 women die.
Speaking on Thursday during the launch of the Kenya reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health country platform at a Nairobi hotel, Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi said that is an important issue.
She said on Wednesday, four people died from Covid-19 in the country, yet 20 women died while giving birth.
“We need to make the necessary investments and be able to ask key questions on why are we having these deaths especially because of the increased resources that have been availed since the MDG goals came to an end about 10 years ago,” Mwangangi said.
It was also revealed that only 10 per cent of children are dewormed while 5 per cent of children under five have been given vitamin A supplements.
Similarly, 26 per cent of children in the country are stunted.
“This means that out six million children 26 per cent of them will never realise the full mental capacity because when you are stunted it affects your cognition and your mental ability,” the CAS said.
Stunting has been attributed to several factors such as poverty, food security, access, social and cultural barriers, how parents feed their children and also factors related to resource investment.
The Kenya reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health country platform involves a composition of all key stakeholders who are part of the teams that help to progress reproductive health services within the country.
They are drawn from the ministries of Education, Labour, Agriculture, Health as well as development partners such as UNFPA, WHO, county governments and the private sector.
The key role of the platform will be to advocate for reproductive and maternal health services in Kenya whose key role will be to coordinate and ensure there is intersectional alignment when it comes to resource investment in reproductive health in Kenya.
According to Mwangangi, the platform will also work towards a realisation of more resources for mothers and children, and track all the health indicators attached to mothers, children and adolescents.
“I am glad we now know where we need to invest, where we have challenges when it comes to delivery and ensuring that our mothers are getting obstetric services, we know the complications killing mothers so we are auctioning and ensuring that we are putting in place interventions that will ensure our mothers are safe‚” she said.
The platform will also ensure county and national governments can implement their nutrition action plans.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
