Health[e]Foundation and Amref Flying Doctors are happy to announce that we have initiated a new collaboration to improve maternal and child health in Kenya.
Adequate maternal neonatal and child health (MNCH) care is essential if maternal and child mortality trends are to be reversed globally and to achieve the UN’s SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) target of under 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. According to the latest Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS), the country currently still loses 342 women for every 100,000 live births from largely preventable causes.
To reverse this trend, Health[e]Foundation is a part of the ‘Tekeleza project’ focusing on three primary health care facilities and surrounding catchment areas in Kenya to integrate the use of selected evidence-based digital innovations into the MNCH services delivery spectrum. Health[e]Foundation’s LUCY is selected to be one of these evidence-based digital solutions.
Health[e]Foundation and Amref adapted the LUCY information messaging phrase book – among others related to danger signs, healthy habits, nutrition, and reproductive health – to the country context of Kenya. This allows the app to be adherent to international guidelines and the national immunization schedule, while speaking to the local context of Kenyan women in their own language.
From 2023 onwards, Amref and Health[e]Foundation will focus on the sensitization and training of community health volunteers to promote the uptake of the LUCY app among their clients and to use the LUCY app in collaboration with their clients. Please stay tuned, as more information will follow to announce the launch of the LUCY app in Kenya!