As Kenyans adjust to the new year, it is slowly emerging that a mere flip of the calendar has little effect on the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruptions it has caused.
The tussle over school reopening has further exposed the systemic failures in our education, highlighted by the deplorable state of school facilities in many parts of the country. Yet, despite these challenges, the Education ministry has said the value of education far outweighs any inconveniences arising due to the Covid-19 19 guidelines.
But the Health ministry does not seem to share the same sentiment or sense of urgency for other aspects of healthcare. Despite the status quo, there is no excuse for CS Mutahi Kagwe to relax in his mandate to provide the highest attainable standards of health as outlined and assured in the constitution. This should not just apply to Covid-19 patients, but all patients, especially women and girls who need reproductive health services.
Pandemic or not, maternal death remains a major concern in the country. Currently, Kenya experiences about 362 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and the stillbirth rate is at 23 deaths per 1000 live births. This is significantly higher than the target of 147 maternal mortality per 100,000 live births and 12 stillbirths per 1000 live births respectively.
Further, data from Kenya Data and Health Survey (2014) shows that one in every five girls aged 15-19 is either pregnant or already a mother. As of 2019 latest statistics from the Global Childhood Kenya has the third-highest teen pregnancy rates with 82 births per 1,000 births.
All this is being considered barely weeks after 6.1 tonnes of pentavalent – a vaccine meant to protect mothers and children against five potentially deadly diseases – expired after wasting away in storage at JKIA for three years due to bureaucratic hurdles. Covid-19 may be the new normal for the foreseeable future, but it is definitely not an excuse (or even a valid reason) to relent in improving other aspects of healthcare.
Despite featuring prominently in health policy documents, providing reproductive healthcare for women and girls has always been an uphill battle, one we cannot afford to relent on. History has shown that the system will not drift towards better healthcare for women and girls in Kenya. We should therefore not accept any new normal that threatens to back-pedal on any gains made towards providing better care to women and girls.
Communications lead, Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa
