SPEECH BY PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA DURING THE FAITH FOR LIFE:ENDING PREVENTIVE MATERNAL DEATHS IN KENYA INTER-RELIGIOUSCONSULTATIVE FORUM AT WINDSOR GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB,NAIROBI ON 4TH MARCH, 2015

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be part of this very important meeting as wedeliberate on a matter of great national importance: maternal, newborn, childand adolescent health in our country.

Childbirth should be a joyous moment for families and communities. Mothersare the gateway to family and child health. As we know, the wealth of a nationis closely associated with its wealth.

It is therefore a matter of great concern to my Government that in this country,as many as 21 women die every day while giving birth.

Simple interventions that can effectively address barriers for accessingessential care for pregnant women such as user fees, distance to servicedelivery points, and lack of qualified birth attendants are within our reach andrequire priority attention.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Most maternal deaths are avoidable and indeed preventable. My Governmenthas a clear vision on healthcare for all Kenyans. In an effort to reduce maternaldeaths, my Government is providing freematernity services, which has led to an increase in the number of womengiving birth at health facilities from 450,000 a year to over 700,000. In thisconnection, I wish to commend the dedication of healthcare personnel whowork under very difficult circumstances to save the lives of women and babiesin the country.

To complement the impact of my Government’s health sector reforms in theareas of maternal and newborn health, the First Lady launched the BeyondZero’ campaign, which seeks to reduce child and maternal deaths by launchingmobile clinics in every county. So far 21 counties have benefitted from thisinitiative and more will be acquired through fundraising efforts including theFirst Lady’s Marathon scheduled for this Sunday 8th March.

Dear Kenyans, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 has given us the opportunity totailor interventions according to the specific needs of the different communitiesby devolving health services and bringingthem closer to the people. I would like to thank the Governors and CountyGovernments for the excellent work they are doing to improve health services.

My Government recognizes that the current health infrastructure is inadequate.We have embarked on aggressive initiatives to ensure better healthinfrastructure across the country.

We are in the process of equipping two health facilities in every county withstate of the art medical equipment, to ensure specialized health care is broughtcloser to mwananchi while also decongesting thetwo national referral hospitals.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to see several development partners actively supporting thehealth sector.

Partners such as US, UK, Danish, Japanese and German governments,multilateral agencies such as the Global Fund, GAVI and the World Bank Group,and the UN agencies supporting the sector with new commitments of over 2billion US Dollars during the next 4 years.

In the last few months alone, the Ministry of Health supported by the WorldBank Group and the United Nations Population Fund have mobilized over 70million dollars to advance maternal and child health, a clear recognition by theinternational community of Kenya’s commitment to “every woman and everychild”. As we seize these opportunities, let us also harmonize such supportwith the national policies andcommitments for Universal Health Coverage in the devolved health system toavoid unnecessary duplication.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In August last year, 15 County Governors with the highest burden of maternaldeaths, came together to ensure that “no woman dies giving life”.

I congratulate the Governors of Garissa, Homa Bay, Isiolo, Kakamega, Kisumu,Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Migori, Nairobi, Nakuru, Siaya, Taita-Taveta, Turkanaand Wajir for being courageous and sensitive to the needs of mothers.

Partnership between practitioners in health and faith based organizations hasexisted throughout our history. In Kenya, about 40% of the health facilities aremanaged by private not-for-profit organizations, which are largely faith-based.The role of religious leaders in maternal and newborn health provision cantherefore not be ignored.

Religious leaders are at the core of the community and play an important rolein shaping its opinions, values and practices.

The clergy have well-established networks, capacity to reach rural and hard-to-reach populations and they are respected and trusted in local communities.

Faith Based Organizations have also helped to bridge the gap in healthcarethrough provision of primary health care services to the people. Apart frommaternal health services, they also provide, immunization, emergency reliefservices, and training of healthcare workers.

In view of this important role that religious organizations play in thecommunity, over and above their spiritual nourishment role, I reiterate the callto action to end preventable maternal deaths in Kenya and invite the religiousleaders to rededicate their efforts to this noble cause.

In doing so, we shall not only safeguard the future of our mothers and ourchildren; but we will also safeguard the future of our great nation.

With those few remarks, Ladies and Gentlemen, I now declare this Consultativemeeting on Ending Preventable maternal and newborn deaths Officially Open.