Maternal mortality has drastically reduced in Migori County, thanks to a workable partnership with a local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
Speaking during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rongo University to strengthen collaboration in health training, research and capacity building, the Lwala Community Alliance Official Kennedy Ogendo said that the sustained efforts between the NGO and Migori County have helped to reduce the maternal mortality rate from 673 to 412 per 100,000 live births.
Ogendo said that the community-led model through the use of the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) has managed to scale down the maternal mortality rate by 39 percent, saving the lives of mothers and children.
The organisation has so far trained 8,000 Community Health Workers in five counties, mainly in Nyanza region, with a projection of training at least 11,000 workers by 2028.
The Alliance is also operating in 15 counties, supporting maternal mortality reduction to save the lives of mothers and children.
The NGO has so far contributed to the digitization of the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) both at the county and national levels, an achievement that continues to strengthen the primary healthcare systems in the country.
He explained that the partnership will inform research, training, and policy to make sense, as well as breathe life into research journals through proper implementation to influence the primary health agenda in the country.
Rongo University Don Prof Ngalo Ayayo, who signed an MOU on behalf of the Rongo Vice-Chancellor Prof Samuel Gudu, said that the partnership between the institution and the NGO will help to further reduce the infant mortality rate and maternal deaths.
Ayayo said that the collaboration will also build the capacity of staff, students and community within Rongo University through resource mobilisation to come up with projects that will solve global problems like the Ebola pandemic.
The University Don also said that the collaboration between the institution and the NGO will inform future discussion on the establishment of a Medical School to fully benefit from the partnership.
According to Prof Ayayo, the institution’s Health Science programmes are coming up, and soon the University will be establishing a nursing school programme, to add to the ongoing science programmes like public and environmental health.
Meanwhile, Lwala Chief Programme Officer Ms. Sandra Mudhure explained that there was a lot of research work from the NGO that needed to be analysed, written, and published to help solve some of the challenges facing the primary health sector.
Mudhure elaborated that the academic partnership from Rongo University will inspire research publications and bring in knowledge for primary health care through an informed innovation mechanism and expertise from the NGO.
The three-year partnership will bring together Rongo University’s expertise in teaching, research and training in public health, while Lwala’s will bring experience in working with communities and government to strengthen community and primary healthcare.
The intersection of health care, training, and research learning can be realised through a partnership between a university and the Lwala community; and according to her, this will promote practical solutions to problems facing primary health care like maternal mortality.
The official also discussed that the NGO has been focused on issues of health care system strengthening to promote quality primary health care services, capacity-building initiatives in areas they operate, as well as training medical staff.
She added that the partnership will enable Rongo University to channel out stronger leaders in the medical field who will contribute to the solution-based problems facing the primary health care system.
“Lwala Community brings expertise’s, resource mobilisation and capacity building while Rongo University brings academic elements, the human capital and mind that can steer and strengthen our primary healthcare systems”, she said.
Dr. Moreen Adoyo, a Don at Rongo University in the Department of Health Sciences, applauded the MOU, saying that it will bring the element of practical-oriented learning and assist the institution in academic research.
Adoyo explained that by blending in with a well-established institution like Lwala, the gap between research, learning, and training will be bridged.
“This partnership will create an important link between what our learners have gained in college and blend in with Lwala expertise in working with the communities, the county and the national government in terms of primary health care systems”, said Adoyo.
She disclosed that a lot of university students are undergoing challenges of mental health and by onboarding a health partner like Lwala will help the institution and students have a better understanding of health information.
“The institution is packaging students with information and knowledge that will be channeled to the world; but if the issue of mental well-being is not addressed, the product will be no use to the rest of humanity”, said Adoyo.
She also confirmed that the partnership will help Rongo University students to undertake their industrial attachment and internship that will equip them for job markets both locally and internationally.
By Makokha Khaoya
