• Kaliti invited written submissions from the Civil Society on the problematic issues which is to be reviewed and incorporated in a new draft within 45 days.
• She however said that the Trust champions for a Policy that includes the needs for all citizens.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has suspended the launch of the Reproductive Health Policy 2022 – 2032.
This came after pushback from a section of Civil Society.
The suspension is to allow for a review of problematic clauses.
The Ministry on Wednesday met with stakeholders from the Reproductive Health and Human Rights sector to discuss key reproductive healthcare interventions which the members of civil society stressed as problematic.
The Executive Director at Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) Jedidah Maina commended the MoH for their policy development process.
She however said that the Trust champions a Policy that includes the needs of all citizens.
"We continue to emphasize the need for a Policy that substantively speaks to the needs and priorities of all Kenyans, leaves no one behind and promotes the right to the highest attainable standard of health including reproductive health,” Maina said.
The session was organized by the Head of Reproductive and Maternal Health at the MoH Stephen Kaliti.
It comes a week after a section of Civil Society members held peaceful protests in Nairobi and Nakuru County demanding a halt to the planned launch of Reproductive Health Policy 2022 – 2032.
The protest which was finalized in the submission of a petition to Afya House highlighted reasons why the current policy was not inclusive of women in all their diverse reproductive health needs.
“The Policy must include interventions on adolescent, sexual and reproductive health that respects the best interests of the child."
Maina added that adolescents have the poorest sexual and reproductive health outcomes in the country.
"An estimation of 345,000 pregnancies among adolescents annually, the majority of them being unintended and 14.4% of adolescent girls aged 13 to 17 experience sexual violence,” she added.
She added that adolescent girls and young women account for 51% of new HIV infections.
"Any policy must take into account the evolving capacities of children to consent to their own treatment, and respect their right to health including their right to access health-related information.”
The activists further urged the MoH to ensure the Policy is clear on how to handle cases of safe and legal abortion as guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Head of the Family Health Department in MoH Isaac Bashir said that the goal is to have a consultative and participatory discussion where everyone should be free to air their views.
"This is a national document and concerns every Kenyan. If we have to go back to the drawing board, then that’s what we will do. I just want to make it clear that the Ministry is here to listen,” he pointed out.
The Programme Officer at Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN)Lisa Owino noted that unsafe abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in the country.
She added that the current lack of policy direction has a chilling effect on medical providers, who are in constant fear of harassment and arrest for the provision of safe and legal abortion services.
"Women and girls are unable to access information on when, how and where they can get safe and legal abortions. This creates a breeding ground for the continued operation of quacks to the detriment of public health,” she said.
Kaliti has invited written submissions from the Civil Society on the problematic issues which are to be reviewed and incorporated into a new draft within 45 days.