A Sh38 million contribution from the Safaricom and MPESA Foundations will equip the hospitals in Homa Bay County with maternal health services.
In the country, especially in remote locations, the investment, which is aimed at over 100,000 people, will ensure women’ safety before, during, and after childbirth as well as the wellbeing of their children.
The increase arrives as the nation is racing to ensure that the universal health coverage plan is realised.
“We will be able to serve as many residents as possible, especially in distant locations, thanks to our partnership with the County Government of Homa Bay and AMREF Health Africa. Because we believe that no mother should lose their child or their life while giving birth due to preventable circumstances, and because every baby born is a life we should fight to save, we are dedicated to enhancing maternal and child health in this region, said Nicholas Ng’ang’a, chairperson of the M-PESA Foundation.
Among its other projects, Safaricom Foundation refurbished a newborn unit at Homa Bay County Referral Hospital for Sh1.3 million, increasing the number of births from 10 to 35.
The M-PESA Foundation contributed Sh36.9 million to the building of a new maternity, newborn, and child healthcare (MNCH) unit at Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital as part of the Uzazi Salama programme.
The Foundation also offers specialised care in far-off locations through its Daktari Smart telemedicine programme.
Nearly 90,000 women and children under the age of five will benefit from the initiative, which is being carried out in collaboration with AMREF Health Africa. Its goal is to increase the County’s ability to provide high-quality, reasonably priced reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.
