Firm partners with State to reduce high child deaths in remote areas

Victoria Koi, a sonographer, conducts an ultrasound screening at Likuyani Sub-district Hospital in Kakamega County. [PHOTO: Isaac Meso/STANDARD]

By ISAAC MESO

The child mortality rate has been increasing as many teenagers fall pregnant in remote areas where health centres lack modern facilities.

However, a ray of hope is sweeping across Likuyani, a remote village in Kakamega County, where pregnant women have a sense of certainty that their babies will live beyond birth.

Brenda Msavii, 18, wishes that a medical camp in the area had come much earlier as it would have saved her first pregnancy as she suffered stillbirth.

Msavii’s baby became yet another statistic in the country’s child mortality figures, but she is glad that modern medicine has come to her remote village.

“I brought a friend who couldn’t feel the pulse of her unborn baby. She has been scanned and the doctor has detected a cyst in her stomach and referred her to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for further medical attention,” Msavii says.

Being one of the rural areas that experience high infant mortality, Philips Lighting East Africa has launched a temporary maternity screening camp in Likuyani Sub-district Hospital to serve pregnant women in the area.

The screening camp is equipped with an ultrasound sonography equipment and clinical specialist who operate the machine.

Detect complication

Victoria Koi, a sonographer at the camp, says that the equipment can create an image of the internal organs of the human body. According to her, the machine can be used to detect early pregnancy complications and help avert death of unborn child.

“An ultrasound machine is undoubtedly an important tool during antenatal care for pregnant women since most diagnostic requirements in these areas entail that patients undergo ultrasonography examination,” she says

Metrewn Vutia, 20, and a mother of three, is among the many pregnant women who have benefitted from the free screening at Likuyani Sub-district Hospital.

“I have been scanned and have been told my baby is fine. I appreciate what the Philip company is doing because have seen many mothers lose their children before birth due to pregnancy complication that could be prevented if they had been detected earlier,” she says.

Maternal mortality in Kenya has remained high at 488 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008/9, according to a report from the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Most maternal deaths are due to obstetric complications such as severe bleeding, infection, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labour. Others are due to unsafe abortion and diseases such as malaria, diabetes, hepatitis, and anaemia, which are aggravated by pregnancy.

The report further states that the proportion of women making the recommended number of antenatal care visits of four and above declined from 64 per cent in 1993 to 52 per cent in 2003 and to 47 per cent in 2008/9, while the proportion receiving skilled care during delivery declined from 45 per cent in 1998 to 42 per cent in 2003. Skilled attendance at birth increased to 44 per cent in 2008/9.

In August 2010, the government launched a Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) road map whose goal was to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

To ensure all expectant mothers are safe and that they get quality health services, the government this year abolished fees in all public maternity hospitals and clinics. Mothers have been encouraged to deliver in the nearest maternity facility under the supervision of a skilled health worker.

Affordable healthcare

However, the government hasn’t been quite committal in providing affordable healthcare in hospitals, especially those located in the far-flung areas. Maternal deaths are still high and rampant in remote areas as pregnant women still undergo complications due to unavailability of adequate maternity services and skilled personnel to attend to them.

According to Mary Kuria, General Manager of Philips Lighting East Africa, the company has committed itself to the UN Millennium development Goals 4 & 5, focusing on improving maternal health and reducing child mortality

“These screening camps are part of a larger strategy of Philips to improve mother and childcare from diagnosis, to treatment, monitoring and aftercare. To further drive this agenda, Philips has launched the collaborative Fabric of Africa campaign to drive public-private partnerships and to improve healthcare access across the continent,” says Kuria.

According to Vincent Owino, Programme Manager of Phillips East Africa, under-resourced areas in Kenya rarely have ultrasound or trained clinicians to operate the systems. Women from the urban-poor and rural and remote areas of Kenya continue to be vulnerable to serious health issues, which are largely preventable especially during childbirth.

According to a 2010 survey by the Kenya Service Provision Assessment, an estimated 56 per cent of pregnant women deliver at home, most without assistance from trained medical personnel. This trend is partly responsible for Kenya’s high maternal mortality rate.

“To address this issue and further contribute to improving maternal and childcare, our company has taken the initiative to organising regular screening camps in Likuyani and soon we are going to roll out to other remote areas of the country,” said Owino.

Many stakeholders

Phillips Lighting Company is just but one of the many stakeholders who have expressed interest in investing in maternal and new born health.

However, the government needs to invest more in district and sub-district hospitals to reduce the gap created by high maternal mortality in the rural areas compared with urban settlement. Equipping such hospitals with high-tech medical equipment such as the ultrasound machine and clinical specialist to operate them would go a long way in reducing the high maternal mortality experienced in such areas.