The fight against TB, HIV and mother and child deaths

In a bid to tackle maternal fatalities, in the face of glaring statistics from the World Health Organisation reporting that 488 in every 10,000 mothers die while giving birth, the government last year introduced free primary maternity care in all public health facilities too.

The policy is aimed at encouraging expectant mothers to seek medical assistance from professional midwives, with a report by the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation last year showing that 56 per cent of women give birth at home citing inadequate health facilities and overstretched human resources.

Critics have argued that implementation of this policy is too ambitious given that the country’s crude birth rate, which currently stands at 28.27 per 1000 population, is on an ascending scale, while others see it as a calculated political stunt to appease the majority poor.

But the government is optimistic that the current devolved system of governance will bring health services closer to the people and include free maternal services.

The country is also burdened with other severe conditions. In 2008, The World Health Organisation ranked Kenya 15th among 22 high burden countries that collectively contribute about 80 per cent of the world’s tuberculosis cases.

To combat this menace, the government adopted the WHO STOP-TB Strategy offering free tuberculosis tests, prevention and treatment, which together with a directly observed treatment programme, has seen the TB and HIV/Aids co-infection rates reduced by 39 per cent since 2005.

The government also rolled out a TB sensitisation programme in mid-2012 where Community Health Workers (CHW) reach people at the grassroots. In March this year, the Global Fund granted the Kenyan government Sh42.4 billion to support malaria, HIV and tuberculosis programmes for a three-year period.

However, HIV/Aids remains the leading cause of death in Kenya with a Joint United Nation report on HIV/Aids of 2012 indicating that its claims at least 130,000 lives yearly.

Since it was declared a national disaster in 1999, the formation of the National Aids Control Council (NACC) has seen enactment of three Kenya National HIV and Aids Strategic Plans whose objective is to reduce transmission.

Currently, there is free HIV/Aids testing and counselling in all public health centres, prevention of mother to child infections, a sex abstinence campaign amongst underage children and promotion of the use of contraceptives.

Together these have reduced the HIV/Aids prevalence rate to 5.6 per cent in 2013, from 7.2 per cent between 2007 and 2012. Free ARV medications for infected people has meanwhile helped to increase victims’ life span and reduced stigmatisation.

Critics like Peter Churotich of the National Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme (NASCOP) observes that 80 per cent of the HIV/Aids programmes in the country depend on external funding hence are not sustainable. But the gains are real enough.

Milestone

The country’s free immunisation policy, especially for children below the age of five years, has also helped to avert diseases such as polio. This coupled with the recent announcement by the health ministry of free Rotavirus vaccines in all public health facilities is a milestone in preventative health care.

Other initiatives include free mosquito nets for expectant mothers and households in malaria prone areas and cancer screening campaigns.

-African Laughter