Mandera County Health department has partnered with an NGO in a drive that seeks to reduce maternal deaths in the county.
Health executive Ahmed Mohamed said the partnership with NGO Save the Children will ensure that maternal and child mortality will decrease following improvement of maternal and child health in the county.
Mohamed, who was speaking in Takaba town when he launched the programme said that maternal mortality is still high in Mandera and according to statistics from the Health ministry, Mandera is the worst place for a mother to give birth and for a child to be born in.
He however said the launch of the Sh2 million programme will introduce innovative ways to tackle challenges affecting the health sector, improve maternal health and support safer interventions to reduce maternal deaths.
The health executive said the programme will run for 30 months in Mandera West, Mandera South and Banisa subcounties under Save the Children, while EPAG/HPA covers Mandera North, Lafey and Mandera East subcounties.
“The county is building modern maternity wings for 24 new health facilities in all the six subcounties. The programme targets more than 260,000 mothers and 190,000 children below the age of five,” said the officer.
“We inherited poorly serviced facilities from the national government, coupled with the challenges of insecurity. We have, however, tried to do our best despite all these challenges and we are determined to improve our healthcare system,” Mohamed said.
Save the Children project officer Abdalla Sharif said the programme will contribute towards improving maternal and child health.