"No woman should die while giving birth."

The third Beyond Zero medical safari was held in West Pokot County on 8th to 10th May 2019 at Makutano stadium in Kapenguria. The three-day safari, which was launched by the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, saw over 5,000 people receive different specialized healthcare services for free.

The services were provided by a wide range of partners from government, development and private sectors and included; screening for reproductive health tract cancers, screening and repair for obstetric fistula, comprehensive eye care screening, assessment and registration of persons with disability, registration into Linda Mama, ANC profiling among others.

The medical safari marked major health system strengthening milestones in West Pokot County, as well as, in the management of female genital fistula in Kenya. These milestones include:

Management of female genital fistula; The First Lady launched the National Strategic Framework on Female Genital Fistula, Kenya; Towards a Fistula Free Nation; the Female Genital Fistula Training Manual for Health Workers, and the National Female Genital Fistula Training Manual for Community Health Volunteers to catalyse action towards prevention, treatment and elimination of female genital fistula. Fistula screening and repair will now be provided as routine services.

Speaking at the launch, the First Lady said, “I congratulate the Ministry of Health and thank AMREF Health Africa, UNFPA and partners – for focusing our attention to this urgent issue through policy and legislation. This will accelerate our efforts to provide our women and girls access to treatment as well as help us to better plan for budget inclusion and training of medical staff to increase capacity of our health workers in this area. We must do more to support women and girls who suffer from this condition.”

The Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) bill; with support from Amref Health Africa, West Pokot County ascended a facility improvement fund bill, a first in the country. The bill enables health facilities to directly use revenue generated to improve health infrastructure and service delivery.

Commissioning of a cryotherapy machine; Amref Health Africa donated a cryotherapy machine to the Kapenguria County Referral Hospital which was commissioned by the First Lady. The cryotherapy machine will be used to treat cervical pre-cancerous lesions. Reproductive health theatre; The First Lady also commissioned the reproductive health theatre at the Kapenguria County Referral Hospital. The reproductive health theatre is geared towards provision of specialized reproductive health services as well as improving access and utilization of those services in the county.

Satellite blood bank; The Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service set up a satellite blood bank in West Pokot which was also commissioned by the First Lady. The satellite blood bank is set to improve access to blood for use in the county. During the medical safari, KNBTS collected 25 units of blood.

Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission (eMTCT) business plan: The First Lady, who is also the eMTCT champion, launched the West Pokot County eMTCT business plan 2018-2022. The eMTCT business plan outlines the strategies West Pokot County will implement to achieve <5% MTCT transmission rates.

The First Lady also assured of her commitment towards the elimination of harmful practices. “I also remain committed to listening and adding my voice to addressing health issues. I am focused on curbing harmful cultural practices that affect the well- being of women and girls.” She said.

West Pokot County becomes the third county after Kisumu and Narok counties to host the Beyond Zero Medical Safari.

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