Mobile Clinics for Villages in Marakwet, Kenya

HealthRight International would like to thank you all for your generous support!
Each month, HealthRight continues to supports 20 mobile clinics (10 in Marakwet West and 10 in Marakwet East). Some of the most common services that are available through the mobile clinics include growth monitoring for infants, prenatal care for pregnant women, immunizations, deworming medication, first aid, treatments for diarrhea and malaria, and family planning education. We wanted to let you know that your contributions to this project make a tangible difference in the lives of people living in Marakwet, Kenya. Bringing life-saving health care services directly to people in these poor communities means healthier babies and children, mothers, fathers and families.

A Kaberewo-area Chief spoke about HealthRight’s work in his community, saying “We didn’t know that one day we could access health services for our children and women in this village of Kaberewo , none of these men and women you see here ever received any immunizations…we feel a sigh of relief!”

He discussed the impassable conditions of their roads with little or no access to transportation, and the nearest health facility in Kaptalmwa is 40 kilometers away. He stated, “we have lost many children and women here before because of complications during childbirth and we don’t wish to lose any more!” The lack of access to health centres, leading many pregnant women to be “assisted by Traditional Birth attendants (TBAs) who lack necessary skills to manage complications.”

However, he seemed hopeful that this is only the beginning of improvements. HealthRight has lobbied the county government to construct a health facility in Kaberewo, and the local government has also started constructing feeder roads to the area. The community is awaiting the outreach clinic, and continued health education and training in the area. He expressed his and the community’s support for HealthRight, “the community here will not leave HealthRight [there is] a facility here for continuity of services for our children and women.” We are continuing to work with these local communities to ensure that adequate health services are provided and continue to improve.

Here are some great impacts we have made in the last two months:

• 519 patients were educated about family planning and were able to receive contraception. Family planning continued to increase, growing by another 12% this quarter, and tripling our outreach since six months ago! High fertility can impede economic development, increase health risks for women and children, and erode the quality of life by reducing access to education and nutrition employment, and scarce resources such as potable water. Surveys in Kenya suggest that about 66% of women want to space or limit childbearing but are not using contraception. This finding indicates a continuing, unmet need for contraception and HealthRight’s mobile clinics are trying to fill this need by providing family planning education and contraception.
• Sixty mobile clinics in the last three months administered immunization to 1,931 patients. One in every 14 children in Kenya dies before the age of five. Rural children are twice as likely to die as those in urban areas. For children in these rural communities, a measles or polio vaccine can be a game changer. Immunization rates in Marakwet County are unacceptably low at less than 70%. This means that nearly one-third of children are at risk of serious illness because of where they live. HealthRight is working to even the odds for these children.
• 2,163 patients received deworming medication. Diarrhea is a leading killer of children in the world globally and significant portion of diarrhea is caused by worms that live in the intestines especially in developing countries. In 2013, nearly 15% of all child deaths were due to diarrhea in Kenya. We are hoping with HealthRight’s support on diarrhea prevention, fewer children will die from diarrhea.
• 645 women received antenatal care in their village. HealthRight-supported Mobile Clinics monitor women during pregnancy for signs of complications – such as high blood pressure, bleeding or dizziness – signs that mother or baby may be in danger. Only 20% of women in Marakwet seek adequate antenatal care in facilities during pregnancy. The distances are too great to walk and there is no public transport. This results in too many deaths of newborns and mothers during delivery. Thanks to HealthRight’s mobile clinics, 600 women and their babies have a greater chance of survival because they received antenatal care.

In total, this small Mobile Clinic project has reached 5,258 people in three months. The work continues but funding is in short supply. Please consider sharing this report and telling your friends and family about our progress. It can make all the difference in the world to us and the families we serve. Feel free to continue to follow our progress of PMNH+ project through our website: https://healthright.org/where-we-work/kenya/.

We would love to hear your thoughts on the Mobile Clinics project. Please feel free to contact us at Jennifer.Snell@HealthRight.org.

Once again, thank you for your continuing support!

• Family Planning Remains Strong (PDF)