Uzazi Salama Program To Benefit 90,000 Women In Homa Bay

M-Pesa Foundation in partnership with PharmAccess Africa, AMREF Health Africa, Action Aid, Pathfinder international, and Homabay County Government, has launched the ‘Uzazi Salama’ project.

The 150 million shillings project which aims to improve access to quality maternal health services in the County will benefit close to 90, 000 women of reproductive age and children under 5 years.

The program was officially launched at the Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital in Homabay, one of 15 counties in Kenya with poor reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health indicators. has also been tried and tested in Samburu County since 2015.

“Every mother and newborn child deserve an equal chance of survival during the childbirth process. We believe that through Uzazi Salama, we will increase demand for hospital-based deliveries and greatly improve the quality of life for mothers and their babies as we have witnessed in Samburu County”, Executive Director, M-PESA Foundation,” Les Baille, said

Homabay Governor H.E. Hon Cyprian Awiti noted the challenges facing the County and the government’s efforts in place to eradicate them.

“As a County, it is unfortunate that we are still battling teenage pregnancies, an issue that has been flagged as a risk especially during childbirth because biologically, their bodies are not ready to welcome a child. It is through such partnerships with Safaricom and AMREF Health Africa that we aim to not only educate on safe sex and childbirth but also to reduce maternal and child deaths. I look forward to Homabay being a success story, like Samburu County,” he said.

Director, Institute of Capacity Development, Amref Health Africa, George Kimathi on the other hand revealed some of the notable successes of Uzazi Salama in Samburu County. Since its inception, there has been a 22 percent increase in health facility deliveries; a 9 percent increase in immunization, and a 6 percent increase in the first Antenatal clinic visit.

“These can be attributed to increased community education, capacity strengthening of health workers, as well as upgrading of health facilities to provide quality Maternal and Neonatal Health services. Additionally, over 500 community health workers have been trained on safe delivery methods and over 200,000 residents benefitting from the project,” Kimathi said.