This is according to findings following a Sh2.1 billion, five-year health programme carried out by the United Nations.
The UN H6 Joint Programme Report on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health also showed improved access and quality of integrated maternal health services, as well as services for people living with HIV and survivors of gender-based violence in the past five years.
The report is on counties that bear the biggest burden of maternal and infant mortality. These include Isiolo, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Migori and Wajir.
The report, launched last week, shows that from 2015 to 2020, the number of women who accessed antenatal services increased by over 32 per cent. Access to skilled attendance at birth also increased by 30 per cent as a result of sustained community-based advocacy and improved infrastructure and equipment by the joint programme.
The programme also supported extensive training and mentoring of healthcare workers across the target counties on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, providing them with requisite skills and knowledge to respond to emergencies at primary health facilities, and to diagnose and refer patients adequately.
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According to the report, programme interventions in the six counties saw the number of women who received HIV testing and counselling at antenatal clinics increase between 2015 and 2020, with Lamu recording the highest increase, from 40 per cent to 99 per cent.
This is critical in achieving Kenya’s target to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The number of GBV survivors who sought health services increased, with Migori County recording the highest at 50 per cent.
Whereas the six target counties bear the biggest burden of maternal, newborn, and child deaths, paid health services remain inaccessible to many, due to high poverty levels.
The report further pointed out that strengthening of institutional capacity has led to increase in county spending on health: from an average of 22 per cent to 26 per cent between 2015 and 2020, representing 18 per cent increase in budget allocation. Private sector partnerships have also increased investment in critical programme areas.
Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi lauded the programme for its impact and for bringing together a wealth of expertise from the government and the UN H6 partners (UNFPA, Unicef, WHO, UNAids, UN Women and World Bank).
The programme gave a strong background to the development of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Investment Framework, and hence was used as a front-runner to the Global Financing Facility model,” said Dr Mwangangi.
Despite making remarkable strides maternal health death of mothers still remains a challenge.
Maternal mortality stands at 362 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Almost half of these deaths happen in just six to ten counties.
