We are proud to work hand-in-hand with Kenya’s Ministry of Health and county governments to drive the scale, sustainability and impact of our solutions across 760+ public hospitals and health centers. We leverage our expertise in maternal and newborn health and the data collected through our platforms to help governments make targeted improvements in national health systems, and inform policies that advance equity in health care delivery.
Partnerships In Action
Our solutions are helping drive progress towards two national priorities; zero preventable maternal deaths (ICPD-25 Commitment), and increased access to quality maternal healthcare services through the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). By generating evidence to track and demonstrate the impact of our solutions against these priorities, we ensure continued government buy-in, and opportunities for scale-up across the country.
Working with County Governments to Rethink Health Service Delivery in
An ongoing project in Kakamega County
Working with County Governments to Rethink Health Service Delivery in Kakamega county
Large disparities in maternal and neonatal mortality exist between low and high-income countries. While in many low-middle-income countries, more mothers are giving birth in facilities than ever before, the mortality gap continues to widen. In Kakamega, a county in the west of Kenya, only 1% of all pregnant women live within 1-hour of a delivery facility, and the level of knowledge amongst providers is poor. Many hospitals lack basic equipment like blood pressure machines, let alone blood transfusion services.
Under Kakamega’s County leadership and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Jacaranda are working to transform the delivery of health services in the County through Service Delivery Redesign. The project aims to address the bottlenecks driving poor maternal and newborn health outcomes by ensuring women deliver in well-functioning hospitals, primary care facilities provide quality antenatal and postnatal care, women can access emergency transport, and communities have better health seeking behavior.
Successful redesign in Kakamega will mean improved health outcomes for women and newborns in the county, as well as better health system efficiency.
Bringing Key Skills in Health Financing to Our County Partners
A Jacaranda-run Workshop
While many counties in Kenya have the available resources to improve health indicators, there are knowledge gaps in budget planning and prioritizing activities to deliver high impact, sustainable programs. In partnership with Thinkwell and hosted jointly by the Council of Governors, Jacaranda ran a dynamic two-day workshop in early 2021, equipping health managers in five counties with skills to identify funding opportunities, allocate resources, and strategically shape objectives. All counties recognized PROMPTS as a low-cost, high impact innovation to help improve health indicators for mothers, adolescents, and infants, and embraced the opportunity to share the costs of the program.
Building Capacity in Kenya’s Government Nurses
Developing a National Mentorship Package
Jacaranda’s EmONC Mentorship program equips providers with the needed skills in emergency care to avert life-threatening complications, and is helping improve clinical performance in facilities across ten of Kenya’s counties. Recognizing the value in investing in their health providers through a cost-effective program, these counties are sharing 50% of the program costs. Under the leadership of Kenya’s Ministry of Health, Jacaranda’s Mentorship team contributed to the development of a National EmONC Mentorship Package for providers across the country, incorporating learnings and best practices from our innovative approach.