Source: The Star
The World Vision says Siaya county has surpassed the national figure of the infant mortality rate. World Vision says the county's infant mortality rate stands at 135 per 1,000 live births against the National figure of 52 per 1,000 live births.
National director Dickens Thunde says Siaya's child mortality rate stands at 117 per 1,000 live births against 31,000 per 1,000 nationally. "It is of great concern to us that infant mortality rate remains high in Siaya," he said.
Thunde said the World Vision has partnered with government to end preventable deaths among children in Siaya county. He made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by World Vision's director of Grants and Acquisition Nick Wasunna.
Thunde was speaking on Friday at the Siaya Agricultural Training Center during the launch of the Maternal and Neonatal Health through Birth Spacing and Advocacy.
The project is geared towards benefiting 36,000 residents of Siaya County through strengthening community awareness and civic actions for improved service delivery and the use of Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy (HTSP).
The Director further pointed that about 25 percent of pregnancies in Kenya are mistimed while one in every five are unwanted hence calling for such interventions aimed at empowering the communities on the need for birth spacing. Thunde said the ambitious Sh 73.8 million project courtesy of World Vision US will help reduce preventable child maternal deaths.
The Director added that the project emphasizes on family planning and birth spacing as a quarter of married women in Kenya have unmet needs for family planning. "Ultimate needs for family planning in Kenya stands at 25 percent while Siaya County is at 32 percent," added Thunde.