Beyond Zero partners and champions today celebrated the achievements the campaign has made over the last four years as the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta unveiled a new roadmap to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission.
During the celebrations at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, the First Lady also appreciated and presented awards to the partners who have stood and supported her tireless efforts during the initiative’s four-year journey.
As she presented the Beyond Zero impressive scorecard, both the United Nations and the government hailed the campaign as a successful and unique health model whose co-ordination and leadership had resulted in very outstanding outcomes.
UNAIDS Country Director Dr Jacobi Jantine said if the Beyond Zero sustains the current momentum Kenya will soon be on its path to becoming a “save heaven” for young mothers, children and adolescents where motherhood is enjoyed and children born Aids-Free.
Among the successes of the campaign is the reduction of new HIV infections among children by 50 per cent.
“It is encouraging to note that out of the 79,000 HIV-positive pregnant women in 2015, there were only 6,600 new child infections – a 50% drop from 12,000 in 2013”, said the First Lady.
During the past four years, some 2000 deaths among mothers have also been averted dropping maternal deaths from 6,000 to 4,000 annually.
As a major testimony to the milestones achieved by Beyond Zero, over 250 seronegative babies born of HIV positive mothers formed a “unique parade” to salute the First Lady who was hailed at the chief Beyond Zero champion.
“It is also encouraging to see the children sitting here who provide clear testimony that access to health services even in remote, hard to reach locations is possible”, said the First Lady after the parade of babies and their mothers. She is the patron of the Beyond Zero campaign.
Despite being HIV positive the mothers, were able to give birth to Aids-free children through pre-natal medication and assistance during birth-largely because of the advocacy and high-level sensitization enhanced by Beyond Zero through its Mobile clinics distributed by the First Lady to all the 47 clinics.
“Through the fully kitted Beyond Zero mobile clinics, we have provided direct services to over 420,000 Kenyans and communicated useful health information to millions of others. This number is continually expanding”, said the First Lady during the Special Summit at Kasarani.
The mobile clinics, the First Lady’s flagship project- are key advocacy platforms for the campaign besides being recognized as complete hospitals that provide emergency treatment, drugs, laboratory services and enabling many Kenyans in hard to reach areas access quality health.
The summit at Kasarani brought together Diplomats from nine countries, the UN-family, policymakers, leaders from both levels of government, mothers and children.
The Summit was a platform for leaders to reflect on the achievements and missed opportunities on maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health targets with a view of enabling them re-assess their obligations and reaffirm their commitment to support the country in attaining relevant health targets.
Other positive result areas recorded nationally as a result of the campaign include the removal of cultural and social barriers that infringe on save health practices and counties investing huge resources in bringing health services closer to the people.
Reduction of stigmatization and discrimination of HIV-infected and affected Kenyans is another positive outcome of Beyond Zero advocacy efforts.
The First Lady publicly registered her pride over the power of partnerships and personally thanked all the partners who have supported the innovative campaign over the four years.
“It is through such partnerships that we have made the kind of remarkable progress we are celebrating today and it is also through such partnerships that we must forge forward”, said the First Lady as she gave a public commitment to continue the cause of women, children and the family for the rest of her life.
“It is a cause that I am committed to for the rest of my life”, the First Lady said proudly adding that she was filled with admiration, pride and gratitude for the support she continues to receive from across the country for her tireless work.
During the Summit, the First Lady presented all the Counties and several Corporate Organizations with Awards to recognize their exemplary contributions towards maternal health, child survival and the reduction of HIV/Aids.
She also launched the revised Kenya Framework for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis (2016-2021) and the Lancet Early Childhood Education (ECD) series that underlines the importance of early child development.
Lead scientist and ECD author (UNICEF) Mr. Stephen Lye gave a comprehensive presentation over the importance of ECD.By PSCU