Maternal and Child Health Key to Kenya’s Economic Growth

Ms Margaret Kenyatta, the First Lady of Kenya visits a maternal health facility in Mandera County on 06 November 2015. Dr Babatunde Osotimehin the Executive Director of UNFPA looks on. Credit: @UNFPAKenBy Ambassador Mette Knudsen and Siddharth ChatterjeeMandera County, Kenya, Jan 18 2016 (IPS)On Friday, 06 November 2015, we had the honor of meeting the First Lady of Kenya Ms Margaret Kenyatta, a tireless advocate for “every woman and every child”, during the launch of the Beyond Zero campaign in Mandera County, North-Eastern Kenya, a place which has often been described as ‘the worst place on earth to give birth’. Mandera’s maternal mortality ratio stands at 3 795 deaths per 100 000 live births, almost double that of wartime Sierra Leone at 2 000 deaths per 100 000 live births.Two out of every three cases of maternal deaths occur in areas affected by a humanitarian crisis or in volatile onditions, such as the North-Eastern region of Kenya where increasing focus is being put on giving pregnant mothers a real chance of surviving childbirth.Some 6 out of every ten maternal deaths occur in this region. Poor education, little use of contraceptives, traditions such as marriage, that tend to derail women’s self-determination, together with inadequate health services have kept led to these very poor health indicators.What we realized was that almost every child born in the region is really a throw of the dice, a hit-or-miss proposition that local communities face with st...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 18, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Mette Knudsen and Siddharth Chatterjee Tags: Africa Development & Aid Education Featured Gender Headlines Health Inequity Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news