Kudos First Lady Margaret!

By Njoki Karuoya

Clap! Clap! Clap!! That’s the sound of me applauding our First Lady during her official visit to Addis Ababa for the African Union Summit; and more particularly for her first official address to Africa, and the world at large.

If you did not see her spectacular performance as she spoke before other African First Ladies, then you need to log on to the KTN website and watch the clip. You will be as impressed as I was. Madam Margaret Kenyatta was articulate and smart. She came across as a no-nonsense professional woman, who knows her stuff and I was grinning like a small child who had just been given a box of Eclairs.

For the first time in 34 years, we have a First Lady we can all be proud of, a real regal woman of class who will represent this country in the best light ever.

Based on her address, First Lady Margaret expressed support for the HIV and Aids cause. This is a great choice seeing as the people living with HIV still suffer from major hurdles. One of these is social stigma. Yes, it still exists regardless of how much information out there. It is the reason many of those living with the virus shy away from coming out and telling even those closest to them for fear of their reaction.

Here is an example. A kindergarten teacher announces at a parents-teachers meeting that he is HIV-positive. Imagine the reaction of the parents as they visualise their little angels playing with the teacher. Many parents would rather not know.

Then there is the issue of drugs (access, distribution and resistance to some of the ARVs), social integration, education on the mother-to-child transmission, diet and nutrition, human rights and so forth.

At the same time, however, I would like to urge the First Lady, perhaps with the support of the Deputy President’s wife (Rachel Ruto) to also champion the maternal health cause.

With President Uhuru’s decree for free maternal healthcare, it would be great to see his first lady help implement his vision. Today, according to official statistics, approximately 8,000 women die each year while giving birth.

Additonally, about 3,000 women develop obstetric fistula, which are holes in their vaginas or rectums that are caused by tears and which allow the free flow of urine and faeces without breaks, thus these women are shunned because they are constantly smelling of urine and poop.

Add the thousands of women who are suffering from miscarriages for one reason or another, the still births, et al. We must also talk about family planning, contraceptives (access and decision-making) and.... abortions. All these are topics that we shy away from touch on maternal health and HIV and Aids.

If women are given the power by their partners, cultures and religions to make decisions that affect their bodies, minds and soul, then we would not have as many problems as we have today. When a woman plans her life and her family well, she will not feel pushed to have an abortion so these rates will drastically go down and everyone will be happy.

If hospitals and health centres were closer to the people, and if they were all well equipped and adequately staffed, then we would not be recording so many deaths of women and infants in our health centres.

And if all Kenyans understood better how the HIV works, then they wouldn’t be so paranoid about people living with virus and shouting down women like Asunta Wagura for making the decision to have children.

So yes, I applaud again First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for putting us firmly back on the map, and for wisely picking her cause. If only she could read this column and add maternal health to her cause too.... Someone please show her... (hope you can see my smile).

njokikaruoya@yahoo.com