Child deaths still high, says report

By GATONYE GATHURA

NAIROBI, KENYA: One out of every three children born in the country is either sleeping hungry or is not getting the right diet and thus is stunted and will die before it can celebrate any birthday.

A report released yesterday in Nairobi by a charity group, Save the Children, says although Kenya has reduced child deaths by a third in the last decade, it lags behind smaller economies such as Tanzania and Sierra Leon in meeting the Millennium Development Goal on child mortality.

Twenty-five countries have already met the goal of a two-thirds reduction in child mortality rates by 2015, including many of the poorest, high burden countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal and Liberia. “Whilst Kenya has made remarkable progress, much more needs to be done,” said the organisation’s country director Duncan Harvey.

Most worrying is a widening gap between the rich and poor, which is today a major determinant whether a child dies or lives, and worse so if it is a girl. The report, ‘Lives on the Line”, says children in the poorest households, which constitute 40 per cent of families in Kenya, are 50 per cent more likely to die compared to those in rich homes.

Girls are 16 times more likely to die compared to boys, which questions whether the much-talked about gender equalisation efforts are making any impact on the poor.

The report praises the recent introduction of a pneumonia vaccine, which is available at no cost in public hospitals. The 2013 Economic Survey released May indicated pneumonia to be the leading killer disease in the country, having claimed more than 19,000 lives last year.

 The new report says the waiving of maternity fees in public hospitals earlier this year was also a significant step towards achieving universal health coverage in Kenya. However, Mr Harvey noted it is still too early to quantify its impact either on the wellbeing of the child or the mother.

Other recent efforts to fight childhood malnutrition include a new policy adopted last year that will promote exclusive breastfeeding and the government has already drawn up guidelines for marketing and promoting breast milk substitutes.

Last year, the government in partnership with the private sector launched a food fortification campaign as a move to halt malnutrition.  “This partnership has led to an increase in the availability of fortified maize and wheat flours.”