Kenya is strengthening efforts to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths through digital health systems, strengthened surveillance mechanisms, and community-led healthcare interventions.
Speaking during a high-level side event convened by the Council of Governors on the margins of 79th World Health Assembly #WHA79 in Geneva, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale highlighted the country’s renewed focus on strengthening the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response system through a “No Name, No Blame” approach that promotes accountability, learning, transparency, and continuous health system improvement.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that Kenya is transitioning from paper-based reporting to real-time electronic reporting across public health facilities, with clinical reviews now uploaded directly to national dashboards to support faster analysis, monitoring, and timely decision-making.
At the grassroots level, Community Health Promoters are using mobile technology to report deaths within 24 hours, ensuring timely reporting from remote communities while helping identify social and economic barriers affecting access to maternal healthcare services.
Kenya has also rolled out the Maternal and Newborn Health Rapid Results Initiative focused on strengthening emergency referral systems and ensuring the consistent availability of essential life-saving maternal and newborn health commodities across health facilities.
The discussions reaffirmed Kenya’s growing leadership in advancing accountable, technology-driven, and community-centred maternal and newborn healthcare reforms aimed at improving health outcomes and saving lives.
