Health PS Susan Mochache with KNH staff when she visited the facility
The Introduction of the Free Maternity Programme dubbed Linda Mama has seen a significant increase in the number of expectant mothers seeking maternal and neonatal health services. This has contributed to a notable improvement in maternal and neonatal indicators thus a reduction in maternal and infant deaths.
Health Principal Secretary(PS) Susan Mochache has said that through the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Programme, the Government aims to provide quality services at Primary Health Facilities PHFs(Level 2 and 3). “The Government has made an investment of Ksh4.5B towards basic maternity and Lab equipment for the PHFs. Family Planning and vaccines have also been allocated Ksh 800M and 500M respectively”. The PS also informed that the Ministry has trained 5000 Community Health Volunteers for deployment across the 47 counties. There is also a planned continuous rotation of over 2500 medical interns in the PHFs.
“Linda Mama provides a package of basic health services accessed by all in the targeted population on the basis of need and not ability to pay, positioning Kenya on the pathway of UHC.” She said urging expectant mothers with no insurance cover to enroll for Linda Mama to benefit from the package.
The Linda Mama Programme was aimed at addressing challenges of high maternal mortality an increase access to skilled delivery services thereby improving maternal and child health. The government has so far disbursed a cumulative sum of Ksh 11,651,431,063 for the Programme.
