İtalya destekli REACH girişimi Kenya’da sağlık sistemini güçlendirecek

Initiative funded by Italy to strengthen healthcare in Kenya

(ANSA) - NAIROBI, 08 GIU - The Kenyan chapter of the “Resilient and Empowered African Community Health (REACH)” initiative was launched today in Nairobi to strengthen community health systems in vulnerable areas of the country. The ceremony was attended by Fabio Minniti, director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Nairobi (AICS), representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the Italian and Kenyan Red Cross, confirming the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the health challenges of vulnerable communities. Funded by Italian Cooperation with a contribution of 2 million euros and implemented by the IFRC in partnership with the Kenya Red Cross, the initiative will operate in the arid and semi-arid counties of Isiolo, Baringo, West Pokot, Nandi, Tana River, Lamu, and Wajir, directly reaching over 1.2 million people. The project represents the Kenyan component of a continental program led by the IFRC and Africa CDC that aims to recruit and train 2 million Community Health Workers (CHWs) across Africa by 2029. Given that primary healthcare coverage remains insufficient in many rural and semi-arid areas of Kenya, community health workers play an essential role as the first point of contact between families and formal healthcare services, promoting prevention, maternal and child health, and access to care. The program will support 3,500 community health workers, helping to improve access to care for populations often excluded from essential services, including people with disabilities, refugees, internally displaced persons, and communities affected by climate shocks. Each worker will be responsible for approximately seventy households, thereby strengthening a community-based healthcare network capable of reaching the country’s most remote communities and fostering a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient model in line with Kenya’s path toward universal health coverage by 2030. Read article...