Kisumu County is in partnership with Lwala Community Alliance for a five-year campaign to tame rising cases of maternal and infant mortality rates in the region.
The partnership, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding, will cover 315 public and private health facilities, linking community-level interventions to hospital care to improve the survival rate of mothers and children.
County Director of Medical Services and Acting Chief Officer, Dr. Don Sunday Ogola, said the county continues to grapple with poor maternal and child health indicators despite sustained investments.
Maternal mortality in Kisumu stands at 344 deaths per 100,000 live births, while neonatal mortality is about 12 deaths per 1,000 live births. Only about 70 percent of expectant mothers attend antenatal care, Dr. Ogola said.
“As we speak, our data are not very good in Kisumu, but we are putting a lot of effort to improve on these indicators. Lwala is coming in today to support us, especially to help us see to it that these indicators get improved,” he said during the launch in Kisumu.
Kisumu is among 26 counties selected by the National Government to fast-track the ‘Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere’ (EWENE) programme.
Dr. Ogola said the partnership aligns with the county’s priorities of ensuring mothers and children receive quality care. The programme will focus on ensuring facilities are stocked with essential commodities, strengthening human resources for health, and improving the quality of data for decision-making.
“While hope alone is not a strategy in science, it must back up strategy because it gives drive and zeal and assurance that there is hope to live tomorrow,” he said.
For Lwala, the partnership marks an expansion from neighbouring Migori into Kisumu, bringing experience in community health, maternal and newborn care and health-system accountability.
Chief Programme Officer Sandra Muzune said Lwala will work with the county government, community health promoters and other partners to address drivers of maternal and newborn deaths.
“Lwala Community Alliance is an organization based out of Migori that focuses on maternal and newborn health and supporting community health promoters, promoting health in our communities, and engaging community governance to hold health facilities and health systems accountable,” Muzune said.
“Behind that data is a mother, is a child, is a human, is a family, is a community, and that is what has brought us together,” she added.
The programme will start at the community level, where community health promoters will be supported to identify pregnant women early, ensure early initiation of antenatal care and early detection of complications. It will also promote skilled delivery in health facilities.
Within facilities, Lwala will support training of health workers to identify and manage obstetric emergencies and strengthen referral systems, commodity supply, inter-facility coordination and use of health data.
“The foundation is there in Kisumu County, and our next step is to build the house, to build a strong system that will ensure that our mothers in Kisumu stop dying and our children get to see their first birthdays and fifth birthdays and live a full and healthy life,” Muzune said.
Lwala Community Alliance, a Kenyan-led organization founded in 2007, was established after a rural community in Western Kenya confronted high maternal mortality and HIV prevalence. The community contributed land, labour and resources towards Lwala Community Hospital, which now serves thousands annually.
The organization currently works with government and partners to advance community health for nearly three million people across five counties.
By Faith Lumumba and Valery Nyagaka
