The Baringo County hospital and Barwessa health centre have benefitted from infrastructure support funded by Safaricom Foundation. The initiative is part of the foundation’s programme to increase access to quality maternal and child health services.
Baringo County Hospital will soon have a new maternal high dependency unit and a newborn unit to be built at a combined cost of KES.11 million. Meanwhile Barwessa health centre has seen its newborn unit expanded and the health facility also commissioned their new borehole to boost water supply. The two items were built at a cost of KES.7.3 million.
“Maternal health is at the core of our strategic pillars at Safaricom Foundation. A lot of expectant mothers and infants continue to die and majority of these deaths are avoidable with proper infrastructure in our health facilities. We believe that through partnerships, we can reduce these deaths to near zero,” said Rita Okuthe, Trustee, Safaricom Foundation.
At the same time, the foundation, under its Uzazi Salama initiative distributed three months’ supply of sanitary towels to 18,000 girls and women in Marigat, Mogotio, Baringo North, Tiaty East, Chemolingot and Pokot East.
In January this year, Safaricom Foundation launched an KES 82 million Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programme in Baringo County with an aim of averting the high mother and child deaths that occur in the county.
Safaricom Foundation’s maternal health programme was launched last year and so far, Counties in the Coast and Rift Valley regions have benefited from it. Under the programme the foundation set aside KES 132 million to promote maternal, newborn and child health services around the country.
The Kenya Demographic Health Survey shows that the county loses 375 mothers for every 100,000 births and 31 infants for every 1,000 born.