Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has spearheaded a critical three-month campaign and unveiled a specialized committee determined to eradicate preventable maternal and newborn deaths across Kenya.

The cry of a newborn should be a sound of joy, not a prelude to tragedy. Kenya is declaring an all-out war on the devastating statistics of maternal and infant mortality.

Despite significant strides in healthcare, preventable deaths during childbirth remain a glaring indictment of our health systems. This renewed push, anchored in the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda, is a make-or-break moment for the government's promise to protect the nation's mothers and future generations.

Operationalizing The MPDSR Framework

Speaking in Nairobi, Health CS Aden Duale launched the Maternal Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) Committee. This initiative is not just another bureaucratic layer; it is designed to be an aggressive, action-oriented task force. The MPDSR framework will be operationalized at the facility, sub-county, and county levels. The mandate is clear: every reported death will trigger an immediate, structured review to uncover systemic failures and enforce corrective measures.

The campaign, advanced through the Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE) Acceleration Plan, calls on the public to act as whistleblowers. Duale urged Kenyans to actively call out health facilities that exhibit negligence. This participatory approach aims to dismantle the culture of silence that often surrounds medical malpractice and inadequate care in rural and underserved urban areas.

Addressing Financial And Systemic Barriers

A major hurdle to safe deliveries in Kenya has been the chronic underfunding and administrative bottlenecks within the healthcare financing system. The CS disclosed a shocking reality: over 1,000 health facilities are currently facing bank account issues. These administrative failures have caused severe delays in claims settlement under the newly transitioned Social Health Authority (SHA).

• Immediate policy directives to SHA and the Digital Health Agency (DHA) to expedite maternity reimbursements.
• Strengthening Level 2 and Level 3 facilities to reduce the financial barriers associated with skilled deliveries.
• Targeted financing to address persistent gaps in emergency obstetric care, blood supply, and essential commodities.
• Aggressive recruitment and redeployment to mitigate severe staffing shortages in maternal wards.

The financial commitment required to fix these systemic issues runs into billions of shillings. By ensuring that funds flow seamlessly to the facilities rendering the services, the government hopes to eliminate the out-of-pocket expenses that deter impoverished women from seeking hospital deliveries, an initiative costing upward of $50m (approx. KES 6.5bn) annually.

Transforming Loss Into Actionable Insight

The core philosophy of the MPDSR approach is to transform tragic loss into systemic learning. Findings from the routine review meetings will directly inform national policy reforms. This evidence-based approach ensures that interventions are not based on guesswork but on the grim realities documented on the ground.

The success of this three-month activism campaign relies heavily on strict accountability. Hospital administrators and county health executives will be held directly responsible for preventable mortalities within their jurisdictions. This marks a significant shift from passive reporting to active, punitive, and corrective health management.

"The MPDSR approach aims to transform loss into learning by turning every maternal and perinatal death into actionable insight that protects future mothers."