Kenya’s population has risen to a little over 38 million. This has placed a tremendous strain on the health system already constrained from soaring rates of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
AMREF is working with a diverse range of communities from urban slums in Nairobi, remote rural areas in the north-east and south, to lake regions in the west and coastal region in the east.
Major Health Challenges
Resources for health are scarce, and the disease burden is high. Owing to its high fertility and declining mortality, Kenya is characterised by a youthful population and consequently faces the formidable challenge of providing its youth with opportunities for a safe, healthy, and economically productive future.
While 44 % of births in Kenya are delivered under the supervision of a health professional, mainly a nurse or midwife, traditional birth attendants assist with 28 % of births while relatives and friends assist in 21 % of births.
Lack of proper medical attention and hygienic conditions during delivery poses the risk of serious illness among mothers and their babies. The 2008-09 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) found that two out of five births (43 %) are delivered in a health facility, while 56 % are delivered at home.
The public health service is often beyond the reach of those living in remote rural areas or urban slums. The community health facilities are often under-resourced and staffed by few, inadequately trained and overworked health workers. Effective health care is hindered by mismanagement, low staff morale, and a disconnect between the communities’ needs and the health services available.
Most doctors in Kenya gravitate towards cities with large hospitals. Many are abandoning public practice to work in private clinics, others leaving Kenya to work overseas. As a result, community health centres in remote locations suffer an acute shortage of trained professionals.
AIDS is the leading cause of lost productivity in Kenya. About 5.9 per cent of the population or 1.2 million people in Kenya are currently infected with HIV.
AMREF is:
- Improving the reproductive health and rights of the nomadic youth through the Unite for Body Rights (UFBR) project
- Implementing an integrated intervention to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS and to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS in Kibwezi, Nzaui and Makindu districts of Eastern Province
- Improving the lives of the people of Kibera through an intergrated approach to address personal health and sanitation education, maternal and child health and care for people living with HIV
- Empowering the community of Dagoretti and its environs through working with children
- Reducing eye diseases such as trachoma in Kajiado district by developing health education materials that are relevant to the Maasai people
- Improving Malaria Diagnosis in Kenya and other malaria endemic countries
- Improving the health of women and children by Putting African Mothers and Children First in Lamu
- Strengthening HIV Strategic Information in Kenya through an AMREF led Consortium through the ADAM Project
- Contributing to the increase in the ratio of the health workforce to population and the equitable distribution of health human resource through the HRH project
- Strengthening Community Health Systems to Improve Maternal Newborn and Child Health Outcomes in Samburu County
- Contributing to reduction of maternal and child mortality through provision of information for action planning in selected districts through the CBHMIS project
